The New King of Darkness
by Masseffect-TxS
Summary: For every Queen, there is always a King, one that is the true undisputed ruler. Salem once had a King but betrayed him long ago for his power by placing a powerful curse on him. But before he was banished from her side, the King swore his vengeance, that a successor will take his place and cast her from the world of the living. This is the New King of Darkness.
1. Chapter I: A New King is Born

RWBY: The New King of Darkness

For every Queen, there is always a King, one that is the true undisputed ruler. Salem once had a King but betrayed him long ago for his power by placing a powerful curse on him. But before he was banished from her side, the King swore his vengeance, that a successor will take his place and cast her from the world of the living. But to do so, he would need a willing successor, someone willing to embrace the Darkness and forever forsake the Light. But who would be so willing to embrace the Darkness? And for what reason would he do so? This is The New King Darkness.

* * *

 **This is an experiment of something that just popped into my mind after re-watching Hellsing Ultimate and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow I and II. It's not accurate, as I am sure there is or is not a Grimm King, but I am experimenting. For the pairings of this, I am thinking Harem, Arkos obviously, it's my choice of Pairing so back off. And maybe Ruby, Yang, Weiss and Blake. Maybe, we'll see. But if anything, this will be a one-shot that I will store away and forget about, like some of my...other works...**

 **Stares at Last Light of Arc and Wanderer as dust piles on them.**

 **Ewe, so please read and tell me what you think and if I should continue this with my others such as Rider, Restart, Knight and Ascension. Leave a review and tell me what you think? Sincerely Masseffect-TxS.**

* * *

Chapter I: A New King is Born

* * *

A figure draped in a long cloak of black and red, encased in an armour of pure darkness kneeled on the floor as his blood slowly leaked from his form. The man - if he could be considered as such - was a tall man with long dark hair, blood red eyes with black sclera instead of white. His skin was a deathly pale and his teeth were elongated to resemble that of fangs with slightly elongated ears that seemed almost elf-like in appearance.

Despite these features, many would consider him rather handsome as he appeared to be a man of nearly twenty years of age. But for the moment, he was bloodied and weakened as he breathed in shallow breaths as his blood leaked across the floor.

He looked up as he stared at the woman before him, features like his own, minus the fangs and elongated ear. He chuckled as crimson blood leaked from his wounds with traces of silver.

"So... this is how it is to be? ...I'm to be usurped by my own Queen? Such an insult to a being like myself," the man declared, even as he grinned.

"The War is _over_ ; the humans have _won_ , your tactics have _failed_. I thought you were different from your kind, but clearly, I was wrong. The Grimm need a new ruler to guide them, one that will ensure my intentions are met without fail." she lifted his face by his chin and stared into his eyes.

"It's time the _Queen_ takes the board," the man scoffed.

"You know this won't end your curse...no matter how hard you try," she glared as she let go.

"The Grimm will no longer serve you, beloved. My Spell as turned them against you. They will follow my will and my will alone. To them, you are nothing more than a lowly worm." She said as the man suddenly grew angry.

"You dare insult me! Me! I am the _King of_ _Darkness_! The True Ruler of the Grimm! It was I who earned my title as King while you used tricks and lies! To treat me as a lowly worm is an _insult_ _!_ You are a joke! While I am so much more than you could ever hope to be!"

She clicked her fingers as the Grimm pounced and ripped his arm off. But he did not cry out in pain, as he felt no such feeling within him. Dark red shadow spilt from the stump before a whole new arm grew in its place.

However, the wounds at his sides, laced with silver still lingered.

"See...if this were to happen to you, you would be squirming on the floor in agony. Whereas I can never feel pain, I can never die, even these wounds I have now will soon fade away when my power returns..." he chuckled hauntingly.

Salem, however, didn't seem to care as she raised her hand.

"You may not feel pain and you may not be able to die, but the silver eyes have weakened and drained your strength..." a symbol sparked to life as it hovered over her palm.

The Grimm ripped off the chest plate of his armour and exposed his chest. "But I know that above all else...you fear shame," she placed the symbol on his chest as her hand glowed red.

The Symbol glowed bright red as it burned into the man's chest. He grunted and withheld the pain he felt coursing through his body - a new experience that he did not like - as the symbol was burned into his flesh. But he would not grant her the satisfaction of watching him beg.

He fell on all fours as he felt different than before.

"What...what have you done to me?"

"I have merely sealed your powers, locked them deep inside that you can never retrieve them. I have done the one thing that you despise above all else..." she leant forward as she whispered into his ears.

"I have made you human"

"Do not be alarmed, beloved. You're still a being of darkness, I have merely sealed your powers and left you in that broken form. In a sense, you are now just as powerless as the humans you were created to destroy but cursed with never-ending life. Death will never claim you and the Grimm will never obey you...you are damned," she said as the man looked at his hands as red marks glowed on his skin.

His armour breaking and falling away leaving him with only his pants and the long cloaked that spilt all over the floor. He looked down at his hands as the marks finally subsided and he could no longer feel the dark power coursing through him.

He looked at the Grimm as they snarled and growled at him as if he was a stranger. He growled as he looked up at the woman who merely smirked at the man's form.

"This curse will not last forever...I will be free of it and I will have my vengeance upon you, wench. Mark my words," he said as she nodded.

"Of that, I seriously doubt. The curse I have placed upon you is a special one. A curse that binds your powers to your fate. If you relinquish the rest of your powers to _me_ , I will let you live as my servant and retain your form while simply being a mindless beast. But if you give your power to someone else, say a _human_ , for example, then you will perish at a cost."

"But for that to work, you would need to find a human that is so _desperate_ and so _willing_ to embrace the D _arkness_ for a truly selfless reason, that he would forever forsake the light of mankind and become nothing more than a Vampire in nature. A creature of Darkness that must feed on the blood of others to survive..." he merely scoffed.

"Then I shall do just that, give my powers to a human. My life means little to me, so long as you suffer my wrath," he proclaimed as she chuckled.

"But I know you, you would _never_ give your powers to another Mortal, a _Human_ no less. Unless it was for a truly selfless reason. Your pride will never allow it. You will continue walking this earth, looking for a way to unbind the curse, only to fail as you will see no other choice but to give it to me. And then, you will thank me for the kindness that I shall grant you..."

"What is your choice, my beloved? Life of Servitude or Death as a Fool?" the man say's nothing as he then looks up.

"I choose..." he then stands up as he grins.

"Death!"

He runs to the window as he smashes the glass to pieces and plummets to the earth. But the fall does not hurt him as he merely lands on the ground, smashing it to rubble as he looks back up one last time before sprinting off into the sunset. The Grimm beside Salem growl as they attempt to chase him, but stop as she holds up her hand.

"Leave him, he is no threat. Not in his current state. He will come to his sense eventually, and he will realise that there is no other choice but mine and then come crawling back to me, like an obedient pet," she said as she looks at his retreating form.

"Besides, what human would be so desperate, that they would willingly give up their life for that of Darkness? Who would be that selfless, to give up his place in the Light?"

* * *

Thousands of Years Later

* * *

Early into the night, a being wrapped in a dark cloak wandered the Emerald Forest as his feet crunched the small twigs and leaves beneath his boots. His hair black as night hung from his head as it swayed and billowed slightly in the wind.

The cloak clung to his chest as continued to wander the forest.

' _For years I've wandered this earth, searching for the one that would take my powers,'_ the being thought as it walked further in the woods. _'I know he is out there, the one who will inherit my power and bring retribution upon the witch who cursed me with this life,'_ shadows began to move in the forest as red eyes glared at the figure.

' _But everyone I've met has never had the will or the instinct to selflessly give up their humanity to embrace the Darkness. Instead, they beg for my power to save their own pathetic lives...it makes me sick, to think this was what my father and his brother created together? A selfish, backstabbing and cowardice race...'_ he thought in disgust as he continued to walk the woods.

"But then again, I should have expected it when I choose her to be my Queen, a fool's choice on my part," a twig snapped as the man turned to the noise as several Beowolves lumbered from the woods.

"Now even my own creatures heed to her will. How far have I, the King of Grimm, fallen to be fighting my own brethren? Where is the honour in that?" they surrounded him as their eyes glowed red and he narrowed his own at them.

"The only thing I can be grateful of, in these past years..." a Beowulf roared as it charged at the man, who merely spun around and backhanded the creature who exploded into black mist.

The rest of the pack then roared as they charged at the man, who ducked and weaved out of the way, as he grabbed one by the throat and slammed it into another. Three more pounced at him from behind, until several shots rang out as arms and legs exploded in a gore of mist and dust. A long black pistol slowly emerging from the cloak as an identical one in silver joined it.

"Was discovering my love of these toys the humans are fond of!"

He grinned as he spun around and fired the large pistols at the pack, reducing them to ash and dust. Several more growls echoed throughout the forest as more packs surrounded him. The man only grinned as he reloaded the pistols and fired again. When the battle had settled, the former King of Grimm stood amongst the corpses of his fallen brethren as he looked around at the pack.

"This is unlike them, Grimm usually do not travel this close to the Kingdom...something is wrong,"

A loud explosion caught his attention as he sped to the edge of the forest. A tall cliff met him as he easily jumped the distance and made it to the top in a single bound. He looked up as he saw what looked like a castle, burning in the distance.

He recognised it as Beacon Academy, a school built hundreds of years ago to train the future huntsman that would fight his brethren. He ran as he sped towards the tower, edges of the Academy already falling into ruin as he looked around at the Kingdom he swore would fall by his hand one day.

To see it like this, and not by his own will, was confusing.

He sniffed the air as he smelt the stench of ash, blood and death lingering in the air. The City was at War, but how? He noticed the corpse of a human as it was strung against a rock in a painful manner as his blood slowly leaked from his body and pooled beneath him. He walked over as he placed his hand in the blood.

The blood, reacting as if it was alive, was instantly absorbed into the man as breathed in the sensation who his eyes opened wide as images flashed through his mind.

* * *

 _He saw a girl with yellow hair strike down a student, though clearly, he could tell it was not of her own choosing._

 _He saw a girl with red hair doing the same thing to another, though the other was revealed to be mechanical in nature._

 _He saw the creatures called Faunus, brandishing the mask of his brethren as they released his Grimm upon the city._

 _And finally, he saw the last memories of the person he was absorbing as the Grimm overran him and slaughtered him._

* * *

"I see, this is no doubt Salem's doing," he surmised as he stood up from the body. "Only she would be so brazen as to attack an entire Kingdom like this," a loud roar echoed as a large Dragon flew around the City.

"And she awakened my pet...no doubt through deception and manipulation. While I applaud her ingenuity, I find this whole act appalling. The Grimm are pure in two regards, _destruction_ and _chaos_. To deceive and manipulate your enemy like this is _cowardice_ , it was not what my father created them for..." he growled as he looked around.

He spotted something as he saw two teens standing at the base of the tallest tower. He instantly recognised the girl with the red hair from the memories he absorbed, as she seemed to be arguing with the boy next to her - before they noticed a figure rushing up to the top of the tower.

The girl turned to the boy and told him to run - and when he refused she kissed him and shoved him into a locker.

He could clearly hear the boy beg and plead for the girl to stop before the locker was launched into the distance as she turned to the tower and marched her way inside.

But the Former King took no notice of her as he was focused on the boy that was launched away. Something inside him resonated as he looked at the locker headed to the city. He grinned as for the first time in nearly a millennia, he felt pure anticipation and excitement.

"Could he be the one?" he spotted the locker land far into the city as he sprinted in the direction it landed. If his suspicions were right, then this could be the one he was waiting for, the one who would full fill his promise and bring bloody wrath upon the witch who betrayed him.

* * *

Vale City – Jaune Arc

* * *

"Weiss! Please, you have to stop her!" Jaune said into his scroll as his voice was filled with panic and dread. It had only been a few minutes since he emerged from locker as he realised that his partner, the girl who helped get stronger, was about to get herself killed. The worst was finding out she had feelings for him and was going to die before he would ever have a chance to convey them.

"What!? What are you talking about!?"

"Pyrrha! She's going after that woman at the top of the tower! She doesn't stand a chance!" he said as he grasped his head in a vain attempt to calm himself down.

"Jaune, what are you talking about!? Where are you?" Weiss asked as Jaune suddenly grew angry.

"Don't worry about me!" he yells as he leans against a wall and speaks at a normal volume, his voice full of sadness now. "Please, you have to save Pyrrha" he begged as the other end went quiet.

"We will. Are you okay?" she asked but the boy didn't respond as with one last flare of emotion, he screams and threw his Scroll onto the ground, breaking it into tiny pieces. He collapses onto his hands and knees, crying.

"Please..." he begs as the other end seemed to call out to him, but he just ignored it as he curled up into a ball. His mind was racing from the revelation that Pyrrha had feelings for him. How could he be so blind, he asked himself. How could he have not noticed she liked him when they were together this entire time.

"Please...someone...save her...please..." he begged and pleased but heard no response.

"She'll be alright..." he tried to reason with himself. "She'll be alright, Weiss and Ruby will save her, they'll save her a-and then everything will be all right," he tried to reason with himself as tears fell down his face. "They'll save her, they have to..." he closed his eyes and prayed for a miracle.

"...They won't make it in time..."

Jaune's eyes snapped open and he turned to see a man standing in front of him. His cloak billowing slightly in the wind as blood red eyes stared from within the darkness of the hood.

"Your friends will not make it in time, she's already lost half of her reserves and is fighting on her last legs...there is nothing that can prevent her fate..." he spoke solemnly as Jaune looked confused.

"W-What? Who are you!?" he asked as the figure walked towards him.

"Who I am is of no importance, what I offer does. Your friend's life hangs in the balance, supported by only a thread in the string of fate that will be cut in a moment. Your other friends will not make it in time and the scissors of fate will cut the thread and she will be lost in the void...forever." Jaune only looked at the man before he grew angry.

"Look, I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you don't know my friends! They will make it in time and they'll save Pyrrha!" the hooded man only shook his head.

"No, they won't..." he said as Jaune grew angry.

"Stop it"

"They will not save your friend..."

"Shut up"

"They will fail..." Jaune grew angrier as the man looked at him.

"Shut up!"

"...And she will die"

Jaune roared with fury and charged at the man, his sword fully drawn and stabbed him in the chest. "Shut up! Just shut up! You don't know what you're talking about!" he yelled as he buried his sword into the man's chest.

Only then did he realise what he had done as he stepped back from the man.

"Oh, Gods...I-I didn't mean to-!"

He stopped as the man merely grasped the handle of the blade and slowly pulled it out of him. The sword clattered to the floor as rich crimson blood stained the metal before the blood sprung to life and flew back into the man. The boy looked in shock and horror as he stared at the man.

"W-what are you?" he asked as the man merely looked at the boy as he flexed his fingers.

"I am... something _more_ than a normal human. You could say, I am _better_ than a human. The Ultimate Lifeform made perfect." he walked to the boy, who stumbled back until his back hit the wall.

"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you. In fact, I don't even blame you for your outburst. Your emotions are clouding your judgement and it makes you act irrationally. You're only human after all," he said as the boy looked into his red eyes as they glared into his soul.

"But as I said," he stepped back from the boy and walked a few steps before he stood in the direction of the tower. "Your friends will not make it in time, and she will die..." he said as he then turned back to the boy.

"But I can offer you something that can change that," he said as the boy looked confused.

"As you've guessed by now, I am not a normal human, I am in fact something more than human. With my power, I could easily save your friend. But my powers were sealed a long time ago, by a treacherous witch who grew too bold for her own good," he said as he walked around the boy.

"The condition of her 'Curse' was that I must give her all of my power if I ever wanted to stay alive in my current form, which I find to be an insult to such a being like me. Alternatively, I could give my power to a human, at the cost of my own life. Seeing no other choice, I ran and began to search." he looked at the tower as he smiled.

"And so for almost a thousand years, I searched for a human that would take my power. Someone who would be so willing and so desperate that he would willingly embrace the Darkness and become my successor, someone who would become the New 'King of the Darkness' and take back control of the Grimm from her grasp and usher in my wrath against her," he said as Jaune's eyes widened at this.

"W-Wait, King!? Y-you're the King of the Grimm?"

The man removed his hood and revealed his face. Long black hair, blood red eyes with black sclera as his teeth shone like ivory against his lips.

"I was before my 'Queen' usurped me, took my brethren from me and placed this curse upon me before banishing me from her side. For the last thousand years, I've been looking for a _successor_ to inherit my power and bring vengeance on her." He gripped his fists as memories passed through his mind.

"But alas, the only humans I've met only want my power to save their own lives. And I refuse to hand my power to a pathetic and cowering individual that would abuse it for his own gain...but you, I can sense that you don't care for power...I sense that you only wish to save her, am I right?" he asked as the boy blinked then nodded.

"If you accept my offer, embrace the Darkness, I will give you the power to save your friend - on one condition. You must hunt down my former Queen, all her acolytes and punish them for their transgressions against me," he told the boy as he shrugged.

"Then, you can do what you want with the Grimm. Attack humanity or leave them alone, the choice will be yours." he looked darkly as he pointed to the boy.

"But know this, if you do accept my power, you will give up your _humanity_ and _never_ be allowed to walk in the _Light_ again. You would be similar to that of a creature of Darkness, that must feed on the blood of the living to survive and live for all eternity. Are you willing to accept that?" he asked as Jaune hung his head.

"I would choose quickly if I were you, your friend doesn't have much time left," Jaune looked to the tower just in time to see the Dragon smash the top half to rubble, as his fear for his partner's life grew.

He looked at the man as he weighed his options. Before him claimed to be the King of Grimm, and he was offering him the power to save his friend. But could he trust this man, could he really embrace the darkness? Could he really forsake his humanity? What would that make him...

What would he become?

He looked at the tower as all he could think of was Pyrrha, and how he would do anything right now to save.

He gripped his fists as he turned to the man, his eyes steeled with a powerful resolve as he nodded to the King. "...I accept..." the man grinned as held out his hands.

"Then let us begin,"

He walked over to a shop as he picked up a silver chalice that was engraved with intricate symbols and patterns as it glinted in the moonlight. The man held his palm over the chalice as his fingernails elongated and punctured his palm. Rich crimson blood leaked from his hand and pooled into the chalice as it swirled and swished within the cup.

He held out the chalice as he placed it in Jaune's hand.

"Drink this, and my powers will be yours..." he commanded as Jaune looked at the concoction, the red blood swirling in the chalice as he saw his own reflection in the blood.

"Why are you giving this to me, why choose me? Why couldn't you just give her your powers?" he asked as the man had a distant look in his eyes.

"Because I would rather die than hand over my power to someone who deceives to win...that is not my way, that is not the way of the Grimm..." he smiled as he looked at him.

"But also, I see in you the _true aspects_ of a warrior that many of your kind have forgotten. You know what you must do, to save the ones you love...and that is something I can respect." Jaune looked back to the liquid as he gripped the chalice in his hands.

"...Can I really save her with this?" he asked one last time as the man nodded.

"...Yes..."

Jaune sighed and brought the chalice to his lips. He threw back his head as he downed the whole chalice - the liquid tasting like vile and disgust in his mouth as he struggled to swallow it whole. But he didn't stop as he continued to swallow every drop of the liquid. And when he had drunk every last drop of the vile substance, he looked down at his hands as he expected something to happen.

And for a time, nothing did, as Jaune grew angry at this.

"What the hell? You said this would work?" he said as he looked at the man, "Why hasn't anything-!"

He stopped as he felt something squirm within him as he dropped The Chalice to the ground and grasped at his throat as he felt it burn from the inside. He fell to his knees as he felt as his entire body was on fire. The man grinned as he felt the seal on his chest begin to waver as small cracks began to form.

"At long last..." a large pulse echoed out from Jaune as he fell to his hands and blood began to tear from his eyes.

"I've found him...I've finally found him..."

Jaune gasped and choked in pain as his back arched horribly and the sounds of bones breaking echoed in the night.

"My successor, my Inheritor, my sword of Vengeance..."

His blond hair slowly began to blacken as his skin become deathly pale - almost a marble white - as he screamed in pain. The King looked up as he laughed with an evil cackle.

"Salem! Enjoy your final days on this earth! For soon my chosen one will reap my vengeance! And take back what you have stolen!"

His hair began to grow long as a blood red aura surrounded his form.

"All hail! The _New_ King of Darkness!"

Jaune's eyes snapped open as a blood red glow shined from his eyes and he roared into the night. A pillar of blood red aura shooting high into the air as the city was bathed in the light and trembled in fright as the world would soon know the power of the King of Darkness.

* * *

Moments Earlier – Top of the Tower

* * *

Pyrrha was hunched on her knees as she gasped and groaned in pain at the arrow that was pierced in her leg. Her aura completely gone as she was now defenceless before the woman before her. She was arrogant to think that she could stop the woman that managed to kill Ozpin. But she felt it was her duty to correct her mistake of not taking the Maidens power sooner.

But at the time she was conflicted about the life she had with her friends and the destiny that she believed in. But now, none of it mattered as soon she would die, alone and forgotten amongst the ruins of Beacon.

' _At least...at least Jaune is safe...that's all the matters,'_ she thought to herself before the sounds of heels clicking on the floor echoed at the top of the tower, as Cinder strolled towards her.

"It's unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours," She kneels and lifts Pyrrha's chin, staring into her eyes and smiling. "But take comfort in knowing that _I_ will use it in ways you could never have imagined," she said as Pyrrha jerked her head away, then stares into her eyes as she says her final words.

"Do you believe in Destiny?" silence resonates in the tower as Cinder merely stares before nodding.

"Yes," she says with a final word as a bow and arrow form in her hands and she aims it. Ruby just appearing on the edge as she looks up in horror as Cinder pulls back the arrow, ready to drive it through her chest as she could do nothing but watch...

Until suddenly a loud roar echoes into the night as a pressure of unimaginable power slammed into everyone. Cinder losing control of her bow as the arrow misses and hit the floor beside Pyrrha as the roar continued to resonate in the city. The Dragon roared in fear, as it could feel the familiarity of the presence...

And it was afraid.

"WHAT!?" Cinder screamed as the blood red aura bathed the sky in a dark and foreboding light.

* * *

Everyone had to hold their ears and grasp their throats as the pressure proved to be too much for them. Everyone at the docks could no longer stand as the pressure of evil and malice was so powerful, that the even the Grimm could not comprehend it.

"What is this!?" Port yelled as he could barely hear himself over the roar.

"I don't know! But something tells me it's not good!" he says as he and everyone turn to the massive red spire of energy that shot up into the air, from the centre of the city.

While in the city Qrow, Ironwood and Glynda could barely stand as the evil and malice rolled over them in waves as they tried their best to hold out, but struggled in vain.

"What in the blazes is this!?" Ironwood said as he felt all the metal in his body turn cold as ice and the blood in his veins to freeze.

"Don't ask me! I barely know half the stuff that goes on here!" Qrow said as he and the others turned to the swirling vortex. "Do you think it's good!" he asked as Glynda shook her head.

"Somehow I doubt that! But whatever it is! Be ready!" she said as a figure began to form in the energy as blood red eyes glowed with pure malice and evil intent.

* * *

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, the foundations of an ancient castle began to shake as those inside it looked around in confusion. "What is this?" Arthur Watts asked as he and the other acolytes of Salem's rule looked around in confusion. "What kind of power is this? Mistress, do you know what-!?"

He stopped as he noticed the absolute look of horror and fear in her eyes as she gripped the armrest of her throne tightly. "No... it's impossible...he couldn't have..." the others looked at her as she continued to ramble in fear and fright.

"M-Mistress?" Tyrian asked as he had never seen this side of his Goddess before, "What is it? Do you know what this presence is?" he asked as Salem could only look up in horror and fright.

"...W-What is this...how can this?" she said as she felt fear for the first time in a long time.

"What are you talking about, Mistress? Who found a successor?" Hazel asked as she looked at the gathered men before.

"He found him...He found his successor..." her eyes wide with fear as he said to her men.

"...A New King of Darkness...has been born..."

The others looked at themselves, as they too felt fear. For if something like this could scare Salem of all people, then they were all in serious trouble.

* * *

City of Vale – Jaune Arc

* * *

The power settled as a new figure stood in the centre of a large crater. His skin was a deathly pale white, as parts of his armour and hoodie were destroyed, ripped open to reveal a well-toned and chiselled chest.

Long black hair swirled and swayed around him as blood red eyes slowly opened and peered out into the city as he breathed out a cold breath of air. Sounds and light becoming a hundred times louder and brighter to him, as he could hear everything around him.

From the large breaths of the Dragon to the tiniest heartbeat of a cricket.

He looked down as he flexed his fingers as he felt everything within him was flowing with power. He looked over to his sword as the metal glistened in the moonlight. He reached down and held up the sword before shadows swarmed around it and absorbed into his being.

He turned his head as he saw the man from before, who was now ageing at a rapid pace as his own hair had turned white and a massive number of wrinkles had appeared on his face.

"...It is done...my power is now yours..." the man said between shallow breaths as Jaune walked over to the man, who smiled and held up two guns towards the new King.

"...Take them...I've grown rather fond of them, and believe they will serve you far better than they have me..." the boy nodded as he grasped the guns and held them up, feeling how light they were before they too were absorbed into him.

"...But be warned...They will not accept you now...not after what you've become...they will try to kill you..." his body began to break away as he scattered into dust and blew away in the wind.

"...Good luck...Young King..."

Jaune was then left alone as he looked at what had remained of the man. "...Thank you..." was all he said as he turned his attention to the tower as his eyes glowed with a powerful red light.

He crouched down as the muscles in his legs bulged as he was surrounded by a terrifying blood red aura. And then he dashed, as the area behind him was blown away as he ran at high speeds towards the Academy. His speed like nothing anyone had ever seen, as the shockwave from his passing, broke many glass windows in his wake.

He soon reached the docks, as his eyes glowed and his body broke apart into a million bats. The bats swarmed and flew over the water as they flew straight towards the docks of Beacon Academy.

The people could only react in shock as a large swarm of bats flew towards them before they landed in front of them and formed a human shape.

The shape then became Jaune, as his new long black hair swayed in the wind. He looked up as his red eyes glared out at the many Grimm that had halted in fear, as he glared at the assembled hoard. The beasts roared as they charged at him, only for Jaune to move like the devil himself as he sped throughout the hoard.

A trail of blood-red aura following in his wake, as every Grimm in his path was bisected or destroyed as he moved with an intense focus. The aura forming monstrous knife like shapes as they carved and cut their way through the Grimm.

The gathered students and teachers could only watch in both shock and awe as the strange being carved his way through the Grimm, like a fucking blender. Cutting and dicing them into pieces. The figure then dashing forward as his gaze was focused on the top of the tower.

He noticed a pack of Grimm that was still surrounding Weiss as he sped towards her and easily killed all the Grimm around her as he stood before her, his back facing her as his hair slightly billowed around him.

He slowly turned his head to Weiss, as she could only look up in shock and awe at the boy before her, as he looked into her frightened blue eyes with his blood red.

She instantly recognised his face as she could not believe what she was seeing.

"J-Jaune?"

He merely ignored her and stood at the base of the tower, his long hair flowing in the wind as he glared up and crouched down. The ground beneath his feet cracking as he gathered his strength and then jumped an unbelievable height. The structure of the tower passing by him at an unbelievable speed as he soon reached the top of the tower, only overshooting it by a couple of feet, before he slammed down onto the top of the tower.

The floor cracking and splintering in his wake, as he gripped the floor with his hand and glared at the woman.

His hair now swirling and swaying around him as his aura glowed a powerful blood red. Those gathered at the top of the tower could only stare in muted silence as the boy slowly rose to his full height.

The moon fully behind him as it was bathed in blood and his eyes glowed a terrifying red light.

Cinder recoiled slightly in fear, as the Grimm Dragon snarled and growled at the person. Ruby was too afraid and too scared to move as she stared at the boy before her.

While Pyrrha could only stare as she could not believe what she was seeing...who she was seeing before her. "Jaune..." she said as the boy narrowed his eyes.

"What have you done?"

* * *

 **And scene. Well here is the debut of The New King of Darkness. Tell me what you think and if I should continue this? I was inspired by Hellsing and Castlevania the Lords of Shadow series and somehow this just popped into my head. If I get enough good reviews, I may continue this, it's just something to distract me and help me to write the next chapter of Rider and Knight, which should come out soon.**

 **So, stay tuned and hopefully, I will write Chapter II: The King vs The Fallen  
**


	2. Chapter II: The King vs The Fallen

nRWBY: The New King of Darkness

For every Queen, there is always a King, one that is the true undisputed ruler. Salem once had a King but betrayed him long ago for his power by placing a powerful curse on him. But before he was banished from her side, the King swore his vengeance, that a successor will take his place and cast her from the world of the living. But to do so, he would need a willing successor, someone willing to embrace the Darkness and forever forsake the Light. But who would be so willing to embrace the Darkness? And for what reason would he do so? This is The New King Darkness.

 **Well...shit, I didn't think this would get so popular?**

 **I just wrote it on a whim, and now you people want a full-length story? Wow, thanks, that really makes me feel like my writings are truly appreciated. I would like to thank FF8Cerberus and Kratos1989 for consulting me on this story. If it weren't for them, I would have never posted this story and hopefully, I can call upon them for more help in the future. Anywho, here is Chapter II of The New King of Darkness.**

 **Warning gets a bit gory…well, that's what you get basing it off some of the bloodiest anime and games in history…enjoy!  
**

* * *

Chapter II: The King vs The Fallen

* * *

The wind blew small amounts of dust and embers into the air as the Kingdom of Vale was under siege by forces of Darkness and Evil. But at the top of Beacon stood four figures, who faced each other upon the ruined remains of Beacon's Tallest Tower.

Cinder Fall, the usurper of the Fall Maidens power.

Pyrrha Nikos, the former champion now defeated and broken.

Ruby Rose, the innocent huntress that wanted to make the world a better place.

And Jaune Arc, the New King of Darkness who sold his soul to save the life of his partner. His new red eyes glared out at Cinder as the moon behind him was bathed in a blood-red light, casting him in a terrifying visage of darkness.

Cinder looked at the boy as she felt a strange presence from him. The power of the Maiden that she had acquired was acting strangely within her, almost screaming at her to run away from the man before her - that she would not survive unless she had the other Maidens by her side. But why? What was so scary about this boy, that the power of the Fall Maiden even feared him?

She looked up to the Dragon as she could have sworn she saw fear resonating in its six eyes, it's entire being frozen as it was too afraid to attack.

' _Who or what is he?'_

Ruby, could only look in awe and even fear as dark red aura radiated off the boy she knew. But she barely recognised him, now that his hair was black as night and his skin was paler than her own that made him look terrifying. But the scariest aspect of his transformation was that his once blue eyes - that once radiated with kindness and warmth - were replaced with angry and heartless red eyes.

Nothing like the boy she had come to know.

"...Ruby," his voice was cold and empty as Ruby flinched at the tone as he turned his gaze to her. "Take Pyrrha and get out of here..." he turned back to Cinder as he flexed the fingers in his right hand as Pyrrha flinched at this.

"Jaune, no! She's too strong! You have to get out of-!" she froze as he shifted his gaze to her, his red eyes glaring into her soul as she barely recognised the boy she loved within the blood red of his eyes.

"Ruby...Take Pyrrha...and get out of here...I'll deal with this...witch..." he repeated as Cinder managed to find her confidence again, as she found the declaration almost amusing.

"Really? And how do you suppose to do that?" she asked as she formed another arrow and aimed it at Pyrrha's chest. "You take one step closer and the young champion will have a hole in her chest," she threatened as the arrow's tip glinted in the moonlight.

Jaune was unaffected as he merely glared at the woman, his eyes bearing an intense hatred and focus on her as Cinder flinched at his gaze and stared into his eyes. Her body refused to move as she gazed into the red eyes that glowed with an almost hypnotic effect.

Red...Hypnotic...Terrifying...Merciless

Before she even realised what happened, he was standing before and faster than she could release the string, his hand grasped her own and the bow as he held the arrow in place. She struggled to release his grip but failed as it felt like her hand was clasped in an iron clamp.

"Ruby...Take Pyrrha and go..." he repeated once again as he turned his head to her and his eyes flashed red. "Now!" he commanded as the small girl flinched and nodded.

"O-Okay" she managed to say as she quickly made her way and helped Pyrrha to her feet.

The older teen leaning on her for support as she could no longer walk with the glass arrow through her ankle, she tried to argue but one glare from Jaune caused her to be silent. Cinder struggled and tried to remove the boy's hand, but failed as he merely watched as Ruby dragged Pyrrha to the stairwell. He turned his attention to Cinder as he tightened his grip on the woman.

"Now then..." he said as bent her hand back slightly and forced her to her knees. "Let's try this again," he reared back his left arm and prepared to strike the woman.

The Dragon roared and brought its jaws down on the pair to devour them, as a large cloud of dust covered the top of the tower. The stairway shook as Ruby and Pyrrha had to grip the handrail as the building shook.

Jaune and Cinder managed to jump out of the way as Cinder growled and fired several arrows at the boy. But Jaune easily evaded the attacks as shadows swarmed around his hand and the long black pistol appeared in its place. He aimed the gun and fired as the bullet instantly shattered the glass bow in her hands and she shrieked slightly in pain.

She charged two fireballs in her hands as she flung them at the boy. Jaune ducking and dodging as he moved like a shadow across the battlefield, his red eyes glaring back at her as she snarled in anger. He charged at her, as his hand flexed and swung it at the woman - who only just managed to dodge in time. Which was lucky because the wall behind her was completely smashed to pieces.

Time seemed to slow down as Cinder stared at the rubble flying in the air and the boy who destroyed them as he cast his gaze back to her.

She summoned more of her new powers and fired another volley of fireballs from her hands. The fire quickly shooting towards him, as he merely stared at the flames before they slammed into him, shooting off the edge of the tower as the people at the docks wondered what the hell was happening up there.

At first, Cinder thought it was over until the flames slowly parted and Jaune walked out as he stood calmly amongst the blaze. Parts of his own body were on fire but didn't seem to faze him as merely stared at the woman as his dark red aura surrounded his form.

Fear crept its way inside her as those horrible red eyes continued to glare into her soul. She growled as she turned to the Dragon.

"Get him!" she commanded as the Dragon roared and attempted to devour the boy, its jaws slamming down once again as the entire top of the tower was covered in a thick blanket of smoke and dust. Cinder grew confident as she was sure that the Dragon managed to kill him, only to gasp in horror as the smoke slowly disappeared.

What she saw would have haunted her for years as she looked at the sight of her.

There was the dragon, its teeth hanging over the boy as he held back the entire mouth of the giant monster back, with just one hand. His left hand grasped firmly on the bone mask of the beast as small cracks began spreading from his grip as he slowly pushed the beast back.

His red eyes flashed as he drew back his right arm and swung his fist up and slammed it into the mouth of the Dragon.

Bone and tooth fragments flew out of its mouth as the creature was thrown back by the force and flew not too far from the tower. It body slamming into the dirt as a large cloud of dust and smoke littered the Academy. Everyone at the docks could only stare in muted silence as they looked up and wondered what the hell was going on up there?

While up above the fist Jaune had used to punch the Dragon was still smoking from the impact as he glared at the spot the dragon just was before he sent it flying. Cinder had an absolute look of fear in her eyes, as the figure before her glared with his horrifying red eyes.

Where? She wondered, where did someone like this come from? And why wait only now to reveal himself? Was he another of Ozpin's secrets or was this something even her own Mistress could not have predicted?

In any case, this boy was dangerous and she needed to escape.

She turned around ready to fly away when he appeared before her. Her gasp of shock echoed through the tower, as she attempted to blast him away, only for him to grab her arm and gripped it tight. Her aura doing little to protect her as she could have sworn to hear the bones in her arm creaking and straining from the grip.

"Tell me..."

A cold dark voice said as she flinched at the tone as she looked up into the blood red eyes that seemed almost hypnotic. "How does it feel being on the other end of pain? It hurts, doesn't it?" he asked as he tightened his grip on her forearm, the sound of bone creaking echoed as she screamed in pain.

"I'm guessing you're not very used to it, are you? Seeing as you are carrying on like a child, it's quite pathetic actually," he emphasised this as he gave the arm a slight twist as she fell to her knees, tears leaking down her face as she desperately tried to get him to release her, but to no avail.

"If you're expecting any empathy or mercy, you will find no such thing here, not this night, not after everything you did to my friends...to my partner..." his grip tightened as he bent the arm back further. "Don't think you'll get of this alive"

His eyes flashed red and bent arm fully back, her forearm breaking and hanging limp as she screamed in pain. She fell to the floor as she cradled her broken and twisted arm until she was kicked in the face and rolled across the floor. A dark red aura surrounded the boy as he seemed to be made of shadows as he glared at the woman.

"Get up! We're not done yet!" he ordered as he glared at the woman on the ground. "The night is still young..." dark shadow like hands formed around him as blood red eyes surrounded her.

"...And I've only just begun to discover the true depths of my new power," his eyes glowed red as the shadows began to descend upon her as small tears streaked down her terrified face.

* * *

Meanwhile – Beacon Docks

* * *

The large Grimm Dragon lay on the ground, large cracks spreading across its bone mask as the creature was for the moment disoriented and out of commission. This had, of course, an effect on the other Grimm in the city as they looked at the fallen Dragon in fear.

The Dragon was the strongest of them all, it was the alpha above all alpha's, save for the rule of their Queen. But the energy they felt before was something far older and far too familiar that they could only look up at the tower and fear what lay at the top.

The students and teachers, on the other hand, we're just trying to understand what in the hell was going on.

One minute they were about to be overrun by Grimm, the next a powerful source of energy erupted out of nowhere as they thought that something worse had just been unleashed on the city. Then a strange being emerged before them and completely decimated the Grimm in his path while making a beeline for the tower. And then the next moment the large Dragon fell off the tower and slammed into the ground.

So, as you can imagine, they had a lot of questions in their minds.

One of the soldiers was aiming his gun, as his hand shook and he aimed it at the Grimm, only to be stopped as Port put his hand on the barrel of the gun.

"I would highly advise you not do that, soldier," he said as he looked around him. "It would appear they are waiting for the outcome of whatever seems to be happening on top of the tower," he said as he had never seen anything like this before in the entire time he was a huntsman.

It was unnerving for the old man.

Oobleck was the same, as he had never witnessed anything like this before. All the reports he had ever read about the Grimm was that would never stop until everything in their paths was destroyed with little trace of life left behind. To see them acting this way was both intriguing, for scientific reasons, but also disconcerting at the same time.

What was it that made them Grimm freeze up like this, and what would happen when it was over? Would they continue attacking them? Or would something else happen?

For the first time in his life, the man was clueless.

While with the student's they were just trying to wrap their heads around what was happening.

"What...what the hell was that?" Sun asked as he and everyone looked at the Dragon as he lay on the ground. "No seriously, what the hell was that!? Who the heck was that guy? And what did he just do that to the Dragon?"

"I... I honestly have no idea?" Ren said as he and Nora were nursing their wounds. "But for the moment, the Grimm are too afraid to move, so there's some good news." He looked at all the Grimm that was now just staring at the tower.

"But what about the others? We haven't heard anything about Jaune and Pyrrha, and Ruby and Weiss haven't come back yet. What does that mean?" Nora asked as she looked around at the many Grimm.

"I don't know, but something tells me, that they're in the middle of all this" Ren said as he narrowed his eyes.

His mind going back to the mysterious figure that had appeared before them amongst a storm of bats. He didn't know why, but he felt a familiar energy radiating off the man, but hadn't gotten the chance to see his face before he butchered all the Grimm in his path. But it felt like he knew the person, but he couldn't place his finger on it.

Nora noticed the look on Ren's face as she knew he suspected something. It was a face she had gotten to know after spending most of their lives together. He knew something but didn't know what.

"Guy's!" a voice called out as they all turned to the sound as they watched Ruby, Weiss and a limping Pyrrha as she held on Weiss for support.

"Pyrrha!" Nora quickly yelled as she and Ren ran over to help her, now leaning on them for support. "Are you okay? What happened?" Nora asked as they took her over to the medic stationed near them.

Pyrrha, however, remained silent as she was slowly placed on the floor, the glass arrow clinking on the floor as the doctor went over to inspect it. Ren noticed this as he bent down to her as she seemed to be avoiding everyone's gaze.

"Pyrrha, what happened up at the tower? Who was that person before?" he asked as she noticeably flinched at the name and hung her head lower than before. "Pyrrha?" she refused to look at him as she continued to stare at the floor.

"It was Jaune …"

He snapped his head to the left as he turned to Ruby as she looked towards the tower. "That man…that man was Jaune…he's up there right now, fighting that woman…but…there's something different about him. Something…cold?" Ren's eyes widened slightly as he looked up to the tower.

The memory of the man flashing before him as he managed to place a face on the man as he realised that it was Jaune that he saw. But, what in the name of the Gods had happened to him? What had happened to their beloved leader that his once cheerful and awkward demeanour and become so cold and ruthless that nothing could stand in his way?

"T-That was Jaune?" Neptune asked as Ruby nodded, while Nora shook her head.

"N-No way, that wasn't Jaune, that guy couldn't have been Jaune? He was so cold and dark. That couldn't have been our Jaune…could it?" she looked to the many Grimm that he had slain in his path as their decomposing bodies still lingered in the air. Ruby, Weiss and Pyrrha could only shake their heads as Ren looked up at the tower.

"Jaune…what the hell have you done?"

* * *

Beacon Tower

* * *

Cinder scrambled and scurried as several arms made of darkness that glowed with a sinister red aura chased after her. The arms destroying bits and pieces of the tower as they clawed at the areas she was previously at, only to grab the concrete and rubble. The sinister black and red aura chasing after the Fallen Maiden like a cat with a toy as a dark humanoid shadow loomed over her.

She tried to fight back as she threw fireball after fireball at the shadows, only doing little damage as two more arms surged from the shadows.

She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, her body aching and straining from running around the tower as she also had to cradle her now broken arm. She had tried to escape before, but whenever she got close to the edge of the tower, a wall of darkness would bar her way as horrible red eyes would stare at her from the darkness.

She tried again to make a break for it, only for Jaune to emerge from the darkness as his blade flashed in the moonlight sky. The blade - now twisted into a nightmarish and black version of itself - swung through the air and aimed at her head. She managed dodged at the last second as a large section of her hair scattered in the wind, reducing her long hair to shoulder length.

A second arm emerged from the shadows as the long black gun took form in his hand, aimed it at the woman and shot at her legs. The bullets bathed in the dark and red aura easily penetrated her aura and reduced the flesh to chunks of meat and blood.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed as she fell face first to the floor.

Her left leg now missing from the knee down as large amounts of blood sputtered and spread across the floor. She looked at the stump that was once her leg as she looked to the darkness that slowly took human shape, as the same boy that was considered weak mere hours ago, who was now playing with her like a large predator with its prey. She tried to crawl away, but with her broken arm and her now missing leg escape was impossible.

She was going to die…to this monster that stood before her.

This was not the usual behaviour of Jaune Arc, this was something else. Ever since he drank the former Kings blood he had changed, becoming twisted, dangerous and bloodthirsty. His senses were heightened, his reaction time and strength increased to new heights and any empathy he would have felt towards the woman before him, was slowly slipping away into what he could only describe as a pit of vile and hatred.

And he liked it…he liked it…and he wanted more.

All the negative emotions, all the terror and the sight of her crimson red blood was almost intoxicating to him. The fear that radiated off her frightened and fragile form smelt and felt almost like ecstasy to him and he couldn't get enough. His mouth salivated, his mind was solely focused on the broken woman before him, and the rich crimson blood that was slowly leaking from her wounds.

The blood calling out to him as his canines grew in length and he made his way towards her. Her body flinching in fear as he drew closer to her and closer to her…

Ready to grab a bite

Suddenly the tower shook as they turned just in time to see the Dragon, its bone mask cracking and splintering, as it clawed its way up the building and towered over the pair. Its massive jaws glistening with razor sharp teeth and plunged towards the pair. The top of the tower exploded in dust and rubble as the force was enough to finally crumble the last foundations of the tower and send it plummeting to the ground.

A large wave of dust and smoke blanketed the school as both human and Grimm shielded their eyes and covered their mouths to keep them from inhaling the smoke. Nobody moved as the smoke blanketed and shrouded their view of the battle.

Suddenly the dust was blown away as the Dragon stood on its hind legs as it used its massive wings to blow away the dust with a single beat.

The dust revealed the man from before, now known to them as Jaune, as he stood before the large beast. While a strange woman was pinned under a large piece of rubble with her leg still bleeding and her arm bent and broken. But before anyone could say or do anything, the Dragon roared as its voice echoed out onto the city.

Jaune held out his hand as the nightmare version of Crocea quickly formed in his hands. The blade itself seemed longer and larger than before with the steel bow black as night with the cross guard a dark gold than before with the handle red and dark like crimson blood.

It almost looked like a Bastard Sword.

The Dragon roared as it descended upon the boy, who merely transformed into a swarm of dark red bats as the massive beast's teeth crushed and shattered concrete. A swarm of bats reappeared atop of the Dragon as Jaune reformed and fell to the beast, the blade instantly carving a large gash into the monster's face, as it screamed in pain.

It swung around to try and grab the boy but missed as he once again dissipated into bats and reformed on the dragon's back. The blade whistling in the air as one of its wings was carved off its back and it roared in pain. The wing slowly dissipating as dark black smoke spewed from the stub that was once its wing.

The Dragon shook of the boy as he skidded across the ground, his fingers digging into the concrete as he glared up at the six eyes of the beast.

The sword disappeared as he held out his hand almost instinctively as a long whip of red and darkness starched out from his palm. The muscles in his legs bulged as he charged at the beast. The red whip sailing through the air and cracked against the beast - leaving a huge gash X shaped scar on its face.

The Dragon only roared in anger as the new King of Darkness glared back and attacked with unbridled ferocity, slowly losing himself to the power he gained.

"Oi, oi, oi, is that really Jaune?" Sun asked as he and everyone else watched the fight. "When did Arc get so strong? He wasn't like this in the tournament,"

"I don't think anyone has seen him like this, especially now. But why is his hair all black? Wasn't it blond an hour ago?" Coco asked as they had no idea what to make of it.

"Something must have happened to him, but what?" Ren asked as no one knew the answer. Not even the one who saw him last, as Pyrrha was too engrossed in the battle to question what had happened to her partner.

What did he do to gain that type of power? What had he done to gain the power to completely overwhelm the woman who decimated her minutes ago? What had he done to ensure that he would have the power to destroy anyone in his path and with who? And worst of all…

Did he do it to save her?

The sound of a shuttle landing behind them drew their attention, aside from the Grimm, as the three other teachers quickly exited the aircraft. "Port, Oobleck, what's going on here?" Glynda asked as the portly man pointed to the battle.

"The surge of energy we felt before came from that young man over there, the one currently fighting the dragon, who the students have claimed to be the leader of Team JNPR Jaune Arc." Her eyes widened as she looked at the man and Jaune.

"That-That energy spike came from Jaune Arc!? Impossible! How could he have acquired that kind of power in a short amount of time!?" the portly man shrugged his shoulders as he turned back to the boy.

"I don't know, but that's not the only thing strange that's happened…" she raised an eyebrow at him. "Not only has his aura changed, but his fighting style, as well as his persona, seemed to have also undergone some sort of drastic change. He is attacking more furiously, more aggressively. If I didn't know any better…" he narrowed his eyes as the whip cracked against the monster's face and it roared in pain.

"I'd say he was fighting like a Grimm?"

Ironwood, Qrow and Glynda had raised eyebrows as they looked back to the boy as he aggressively attacked the large Dragon. Shifting between a swarm of bats, the long whip and the other two weapons he possessed in his being. He was ferocious, he was cruel and he was showing no mercy to his enemy. Something that seemed to almost chill them to the core.

Qrow looked to his left as he noticed a strange woman slowly rising from the rubble as he narrowed his gaze at her. "That woman?" a loud roar turned his attention back to the fight as he and everyone's eyes widened.

Jaune roared as he slammed his fist into its eyes causing the creature to scream bloody murder. He then pulled with all his might and ripped the eye from its socket, a large plume of black smoke exiting from its wound as it mourned the loss of one of its six eyes momentarily.

The Grimm Dragon roared as it tried one last time to devour the boy, as it managed to get the boy inside its mouth finally. But then felt true and utter fear, as the boy held its mouth open with brute strength.

Red eyes then flashed as the boy jumped out of its mouth and large shadows spilt out from the boys back and slowly took shape. The shadows wrapping and encircling the beast as the Dragon roared and thrashed across the ground. The Shadow's binding and subduing the massive beast as red eyes slowly emerged from the darkness. A savage grin appeared on his face before he jerked his arm and the shadows twisted.

A huge snap echoed out as the Dragons head spun around at a 180-degree then fell silent. Its eyes flickered and faded until its body slacked and fell to the courtyard floor.

The Dragon was Dead.

No one moved, no one breathed, no one even made a sound as everyone from man to Grimm just stared at the dead Dragon. Its body already beginning to decay as black smoke slowly rose into the air. And standing before the beast was Jaune, his black hair gently swaying around him like a scarf in the wind as his face showed no emotion, other than the heartless look that took residence in his red eyes.

He slowly shifted his gaze to the assembled masses as his red eyes flashed and a bolt of fear surged down their spines.

The Grimm instantly backed up and ran, running away from the man before them as the truth was evident to them. He was the new alpha; his word was law and any who opposed him would suffer. The Grimm quickly left the city as the skies that were once shrouded by Grimm slowly parted and the sky was free. But for the humans and Faunus, all they could do was stare in complete awe.

To those who knew him, this was not the Jaune that they knew.

This was someone else wearing his face. This was someone who by all accounts was dangerous.

And that terrified them.

But before anyone could say anything, Cinder managed to propel herself towards the boy from behind and swung her blade at his neck. The glass blade slicing through flesh and nerve as Jaune's head flew off his body. A spray of blood flying in the air as Cinder landed a few feet away from him. Eye's widened, mouths gaped and people shrieked as Jaune's head was removed, all while Cinder smirked in confidence that she had taken the boy by surprise and quickly finished him off…

Only for her confidence to turn to dread as a dark trail of black and red aura surged from the severed neck and quickly grabbed hold of his severed head.

The aura of darkness surged and twisted from the stump until the head flew back and fused onto his body. The sound of bone mending and fusing echoed out as the cut Cinder made on the boy instantly disappeared and his eyes were focused solely on the woman who tried to behead him…

It was at that moment that Cinder knew she fucked up. She had just pissed off someone who easily killed the Dragon and left her in a broken state. And she just tried to kill him.

Not her best plan.

Jaune ran towards her as the muscles in his right arm bulged and grew as Cinder - out of instinct - formed another blade of glass and pointed it at him, while he mimicked with his hand in a spear-like fashion towards her. At the same time glass met solid flesh as a large shockwave blasted from contact.

The tip of the glass blade clashing with the tips of his fingers as both combatants pushed against each other with all their power…

Until the tip of the blade cracked and the rest soon followed.

The arm continuing forward as the blade and the arm holding it were reduced to nothing but shards and chunks of flesh. Cinder screamed outright murder as she fell back to the ground, holding up the stump of her arm as blood sputtered and gushed from the wound. She looked up with fearful eyes as cold red eyes stared back.

"N-now wait a minute!" she tried to crawl back, but with a broken arm, a missing arm and a stump of a leg that remained, she got little far as the boy merely paced his way toward her. "Y-you don't have to kill me!" she said as Jaune merely stared at her.

"I-I can tell you everything you want to know? Everything about the White Fang and Salem! I can tell you everything! Just spare me!" she said as Qrow and Glynda flinched at the name.

' _Salem? Did she just say Salem?'_ he thought as he finally recognised her as the woman that attacked Amber months ago. He had only caught a glimpse of her then, but now he was certain it was her.

"Kid! Hold up!" he said as the boy seemed to ignore them and reached for her neck. His hand grasping around her throat as he lifted her up, while her body dangled like a puppet with no strings.

But while Cinder begged for her life, thinking that mentioning Salem would get her out alive, she never noticed the intense gaze Jaune had on her neck. The sound of her blood pulsing through her body was almost hypnotic and alluring as for a moment he could see the blood vessel on her neck and the delicious blood inside.

Without even thinking, guided by only instinct alone opened his mouth, revealed his elongated fangs…

And plunged them into her neck

"…ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Cinder's screams echoed out as she desperately struggled and squirmed to free herself from his grasp. But no matter what she did, his fangs were locked on her neck and would not come loose anytime soon. She felt her blood slowly leave as she realised what he was doing to her…

He was drinking her blood, devouring her. He was going to devour her blood and leave nothing but a lifeless husk.

Everyone at the docks reacted the same as some screamed in terror while those with braver stomachs had instantly grabbed their weapons, preparing themselves for whatever this creature was as he continued to bite down on the woman. The teachers were too struck with fear to move as they watched the boy slowly devour her.

Jaune's friends and teammates could only stare in absolute horror as they watched their friend devour the woman.

Ren tried his best to cover Nora's eyes but failed as she had already seen too much and she could stare in muted silence.

Weiss, Blake and Ruby had looks of pure horror on their faces as they could only stare at the large fangs plunged into her neck. The colour of her skin growing paler and paler she was drained of the very essence of her life. Soon she would be nothing but a shrivelled-up corpse.

Pyrrha didn't know how to react as she watched the woman slowly wither away. A thousand emotions were surging around her chest. Anger, Satisfaction, Fear, Worry and finally Guilt.

Anger at her inability to stop the woman and for allowing her to gain the power of the Maiden.

Satisfaction, because she was now paying for her misdeeds by suffering a horrible and painful death, thinking about it just made her sick for finding satisfaction in this.

Fear, because she had no idea how this would play out and what would happen to her partner.

Worry, for the boy who had to have made some sort of deal with the Devil to gain this power…

And finally, Guilt because she was more than likely the cause that pushed him to do something terrible to save her life because she couldn't run away when he begged her.

Cinder had tears flowing down her face as she slowly felt her life draining from her body. In any other circumstance, she would be spending her last moments thinking about Emerald to transfer the power of the Fall Maiden, so that her mission would not be a failure.

But right now, she couldn't even concentrate on Emerald and she couldn't even think about transferring the power to her. She was afraid, terrified and scared of what would happen to her, as she wondered what awaited her on the other side of the living?

None of that mattered as all she could do was pray to whatever God would listen and spare her this agonising death and save her from this pain…not that any God would ever spare her from what was no doubt her just reward.

Death was waiting for her, and she was not kind.

Jaune finally stopped as her blood ran dry and all that was left was a lifeless husk, drained of all the blood in her body. She now resembled that of a mummified corpse as her eyes had drained away, her flesh rapidly disinterested and her skin became wrinkled and cracked.

He dropped her body ceremoniously to the floor as small bits of her skin and flesh cracked away into the wind. His mouth covered in blood as the red liquid dripped down his chin and over his exposed chest as he relished in the taste of blood.

His appetite momentarily quenched as he looked at the dried-up corpse and smirked evilly at the once proud woman no dead at his feet.

Suddenly a bullet shot through his head as the right side of his face exploded into gore and blood. But the blood and gore seemed to stop in mid-air and quickly turned into the black and red aura.

He slowly turned his head around as he spied a terrified Atlas Soldier, his gun still smoking after shooting the boy, as the look on his face was that of absolute terror. Anger quickly washed over his body as his red eye glared while he turned to the rest of the remaining Atlas soldiers that now aimed at the boy.

"KILL IT! KILL THE MONSTER!" the rookie soldier said as he and all his comrades aimed at the creature.

"No! Wait!" Ironwood tried to command too late as all the soldiers fired at the boy.

Multiple bullets and dust rounds impacted on the boy as his body was exploding from the multiple rounds blasting into his chest. His skin shredded and torn, as large amounts of blood splattered and every bone shattered as every single bullet from the Atlas military was trained on him and shredded to pieces. More parts of his face exploded as the lower half of his jaw shattered and he had an absolute look of rage in his eyes.

The soldiers, however, kept firing as his friends and onlookers could only watching in horror as the boy was shredded to pieces.

"Stop! I order you to stop! Cease Fire!" he commanded to deaf ears as fear had fully consumed them and they mindlessly unloaded everything they had into the boy. Until finally, every gun stopped as the last of the bullet casings hit the floor.

No one moved as the large cloud of dust and smoke lingered around the boy.

At first, the soldiers felt confident that they managed to kill the monster. But that soon turned to horror as the smoke parted to reveal a writing and twisted shape as the body of Jaune Arc was shredded and torn, being held together by the strange aura of red and dark.

Then, like something out of a Dust-Horror recording, the body began to sow back together. The aura of darkness melding and fusing the broken body back together as soon Jaune stood fully regenerated.

His shirt was fully ripped to shreds as all that he had on him was his jeans that somehow managed to remain intact from the knee down. But now he was barefooted and shirtless as the last segments of his armour fell to the floor with an audible clang.

An almost animalistic growl resonated in his throat as sharp white fangs shimmered in his mouth and he glared at the terrified soldiers.

Before any of them had the chance to reload, Jaune roared an unholy roar as he charged at the troops. The first one who shot him was cut in two as both halves of his body flew in the air. His face full of pain and horror as his comrades and bystanders screamed in horror. His gaze shifted as he charged again at another pair of soldiers as his hands flexed into a claw-like fashion and he ripped them in half.

Some of them scampered to reload their weapons, only to be cut down by Jaune as he sped between each soldier and carved them up like they were turkeys. Pure anger and rage emanating from his eyes as he continued to slaughter the frightened troops, all while a tiny voice in his head told him to kill them.

His friends now had repulsed and terrified looks on their faces as many of the bystanders screamed and ran in fear.

His blood red eyes sending fear down their spines as The New King of Darkness made himself known to the world.

Qrow cursed as he quickly ran and swung his sword at the boy, who managed to block the blade with his own that manifested in his hands.

"Knock it off kid! You're scaring people!" he said as he and the boy clashed together, steel to steel. Jaune only glared back as his red eyes glared into Qrow's one. But while Qrow's were full of mischief and confidence. Jaune's showed nothing but rage and blood thrust.

And honestly, it scared the veteran Huntsman.

Jaune managed to force the man to his knees as the ground beneath their feet cracked from the pressure.

Ironwood took the chance to charge at the boy as he managed to knock the boy away but was shocked when he grabbed his prosthetic limb and crushed it in his hand as the man almost screamed in pain at the harsh metal and wires being pulled from him. But a large explosion knocked him back and sent him tumbling across the courtyard, before stopping and landing on all fours like an animal.

Port and Oobleck fired at the boy as large explosions impacted against his body, but did little to damage him. But before he could charge again, his body was shrouded in a purple aura as he suddenly felt his body force itself to the ground.

His gaze shifted as he spotted Glynda as she used her telekinesis semblance to hold him down.

"Mister Arc! Please stop! The enemy is dead! Stand down!" she called out as the only growled and struggled against her semblance.

"It's no use," Qrow said as he stood back up. "The Kid is fully gone now, whatever's happened to him, he's lost control of it. And that's putting everyone in danger," Jaune growled as his eyes flashed red and he slowly began to stand up.

Glynda grunted as she tried to hold the boy down by applying more of her aura to her semblance, but a sudden pulse of pure dark energy surged out from his body as it slammed into her and the teachers. Sending them flying back as they all tumbled onto the ground.

Jaune now stood in a crater from the headmistress's semblance as red eyes glanced over at the disoriented group.

Jaune growled as the sword reformed in his hand and he walked over to Qrow, his blade scratching the ground as he was full bent on killing anyone in his path. His mind no longer his own as the power was fully consuming his senses, blinding him from the action he had committed and the one he was about to commit.

No one could move, no one could blink and no one could stop him as he now stood over Qrow's form. The dark blade hanging over the man's head as Ruby had small tears gathering in her eyes.

"Stop…"

The blade raised higher over his head.

"Stop…"

The blade flashed in the night as the black blade resonated with malice and evil.

"Stop it…"

Qrow grunted in pain as he tried to reach for his weapon, only for the boy to place his foot on his wrist.

"PLEASE STOP!"

His face covered in shadows as everyone could have sworn they saw a thousand red eyes glaring all over his body, as the blade was ready to strike.

"JAUNE!" a large flash of light shone from her eyes as streams of silver energy poured from her eyes. The courtyard bathed in a bright light as Jaune turned and screamed as the energy slammed into him.

The large wave of energy blinded everyone as they all recoiled at the light.

Jaune, however, felt something strange happening to him as the fog over his mind was clearing and his sense was slowly returning to him. The large flash of light grew brighter and brighter as Jaune was consumed in the light. Then a large cloud of dust blanketed the courtyard as everyone fell to the floor.

When the light finally died down, everything was silent and everyone was still. Ruby falling back to the ground as the light left her eyes and she fell to the floor.

"Ruby!" Weiss and the other yelled, as Weiss quickly ran over to her partner. "Ruby! Wake up! Ruby!" she said as she tried to shake the girl awake.

Meanwhile, Jaune groaned as he slowly got up off the ground and placed a hand on his head as his ears rung like someone had applied a jackhammer to his skull. His vision slowly returned to him, as blurs became shapes and shapes became people as the dust slowly settled.

"Ow my head…what was…" he stopped as he looked around at all the carnage he unleashed.

Multiple soldiers lying dead around him, the teachers nursing their wounds as they slowly got up off the ground and stared in fear at the boy. The remaining soldiers that were left had absolute terror in their eyes as they backed away from him, pure fear and terror emanating in their eyes.

Looking around he noticed the same looks of fear in every one of their eyes.

Even his friends were looking at him in fear as they seemed to step back from him. At first, he couldn't understand why, until he felt something wet roll off his chin and hit the floor.

Looking down he noticed that it was a small drop of blood. But from what he could tell, he wasn't injured. But then he noticed his hands as they too were covered in blood and it was far too much for him to have lost. It was then that he remembered everything.

The plea, the stranger, the deal and the sensation of unbelievable power coursing through his veins and the absolute thrill he felt when he fought against the woman. Right up to when he plunged his teeth into her neck and drained her of all her blood.

His fingers brushed against his lips as he realised that was where the blood came from. He killed her. She was dead because of him. He then looked back up as he saw the looks of fear and panic in his friend's eyes.

Weiss, holding onto Ruby's unconscious body protectively as if he was going to hurt her.

Blake doing the same with Yang as she held her close.

The other students backing way and shaking in fear of him. And even his own teammates seemed to look at him in fear as Ren held Nora back while Nora seemed to be trying her hardest to hide from him.

His final gaze fell to Pyrrha as she had tears streaking down her face as she either cried in fear of him or cried for him. He looked down at his blood covered hand as he remembered the words the former King had told him.

" _They will not accept you… not after you've become…they will try to kill you…"_

He gripped his fist as dark shadows slowly swirled around his form as his body began to break away into small bats. The eyes of his friends and everyone widened as they feared the worst. But were then shocked as he looked back up at them and said in a voice that could have almost been a whisper, yet so loud amongst the silence.

Their eyes widened as he smiled softly at the group.

"…I'm sorry…" a streak of blood left his right eye and fell down his cheek as his body soon broke apart into a swarm of bats.

"Jaune! Wait!" Pyrrha tried to call out to him, only too late as the bats scattered and flew away from her.

The entire courtyard was silent as everyone just stared at the spot the boy was. A thousand different emotions swirling in their chests as they tried to make sense of this. What would this mean for them? What would this mean for the rest of the world? Would he come back? What would happen? But for those who were close to him, realising that their fear of him had driven him away, they wondered if their Jaune was truly gone…

And was it too late?

* * *

 **And Scene. Well here is Chapter II of The New King of Darkness. Sorry for the late chapter, I just moved and had to reset my computer because it was taking up too much space. Not only that I need to find a job as soon as I can, but I also need to be able to buy food.  
**

 **But now, before people whine about how OP I've made Jaune. I just want to say that Jaune is nowhere near his true power. Since I'm drawing inspiration from Castlevania and Hellsing, he still has a lot more to learn about what it means to be a 'Vampire' like creature. Which is what I will be doing in the next chapter. Here is a list of powers I plan to give him.**

 **Void Powers - (Freezing)  
Chaos Powers - (Burning)  
Aura Shielding - (Due to him being born as a human and gaining the King's powers)  
Dark Aura Manipulation - (That's what his aura is now as he is the only Creature of Darkness to possess a soul, it's like anti-aura which is why it worked so well against Cinder)  
Shadow Manipulation - (Merging with or control Shadows)  
Blood Manipulation - (Only after its left a living body)  
Grimm absorption - (He gains the features of the Grimm he kills)  
Grimm Control - (After he kills Salem obviously)  
Familiar Summoning - (He Summons Creatures from his body to fight for him)  
Shapeshifting - (In Hellsing Alucard is not limited to what form he can take)  
Turning - (Making others into lesser beings like himself)  
and Traditional Vampire Powers**

 **But he won't have these powers right away, he needs time to adjust and learn to control these new powers. The only reason he won against Cinder was that she is still new to her powers and thus as Salem said, is vulnerable. And I made Cinder suffer was because I'm still pissed about what she did in Volume 3.**

 **That still hurts.**

 **Jaune will feel Guilt for what he did to the soldiers by making it that the bloodlust was just Jaune's body trying to cope with the power. He will retain his intelligence, and he will feel guilt for what he did, but we need to remember that in the show Jaune still hasn't killed anyone yet. This will be his first kill.**

 **He knew what he had to do, but even then, the act of taking a life is still a hard thing to overcome. So, him killing a bunch of soldiers as well will shake him a bit, but as time will pass he will begin to slowly lose his remaining humanity and fulfil his end of the bargain and kill Salem.**

 **Unless Pyrrha and the others manage to convince him it's not too late. Find out next time in…**

 **Chapter III: What am I?**


	3. Chapter III: A New King of Darkness

RWBY: The New King of Darkness

For every Queen, there is always a King, one that is the true undisputed ruler. Salem once had a King but betrayed him long ago for his power by placing a powerful curse on him. But before he was banished from her side, the King swore his vengeance, that a successor will take his place and cast her from the world of the living. But to do so, he would need a willing successor, someone willing to embrace the Darkness and forever forsake the Light. But who would be so willing to embrace the Darkness? And for what reason would he do so? This is The New King Darkness.

* * *

Chapter III: A New King of Darkness

* * *

A small drop of water fell from the ceiling and splashed into a small puddle as the sound echoed amongst the silence and vastness of the dark cave. The darkness seemingly eternal as the water continued to drip into the dark and silence. From that silence soon come a breath of air as a figure lay huddled in the furthers corner of the cavern.

The figure was pale as ash and his hair as black as night, as he held himself tight, almost as if he was attempting to hide from the world. Tired eyelids slowly opened to reveal blood red iris stared into darkness as the figure slowly looked around him at the cavern.

"Wha-? Where am I?" The figure asked himself as he slowly stood up on his own two legs, his strength wavered slightly as he was forced to grab onto a stalagmite that spired up from the floor.

"Ah! Gods Damn it! I feel like I got hit by a bus! What the hell happened to me?" The figure let out a haggled breath as he slowly walked to a large body of water that had formed in the cavern as he staggered and tripped on his own two feet. His hands splashing into the water as he gasped and grunted in pain.

"Argh! Damn it! What the hell happened to-!"

He stopped as he stared at the pale skin of a somewhat familiar hand then into the slowly forming reflection in the surface of the water. He was met with the pale visage, black hair and blood red eyes of a person he had never seen before. But it was also familiar to him as he slowly reached up and touched the surface of his cheek.

His reflection mirroring him exactly as he moved his head from side to side.

"I-Is that…is that me?" he looked at the reflection in the water as he stared into the reflecting blood red eyes. "W-What the hell happened to me!? Why am I-!" suddenly his mind was racing with images and voices as everything came flooding back to him as everything came back to him...

* * *

 _His name was Jaune Arc – son of Roland and Diana Arc, eighth born to the Arc Family and student of Beacon Academy._

 _He faked his way in and made the leader of his own team. Had several friends, one of whom was his partner and someone who harboured feelings for him.  
_

 _They were taken down into a vault. They faced this strange woman with unnatural abilities and was forced away by the one he considers his closest friend.  
_

 _Then images of a pale man like himself appeared. The taste of vile and the pain that followed after, an overwhelming sense of power and bloodlust. Followed by the taste of blood on his lips and the echoing screams of a woman he despised with all his being._

 _Then came a light…then Sadness…then Regret._

* * *

Jaune stared at his pale reflection as he looked into the blood red eyes that were now his own. "Oh…that's right…I became this… _ **thing**_ ," he looked at his hand as he tensed the muscles and bones in his hand. A strange sensation slithered beneath his skin as small wisps of black and red aura seeped between his fingers.

"Question is …what am I exactly?"

"…Something _**more**_ , than you used to be…"

At the sound of the voice, he quickly spun around as he instinctively flexed his hands into claws – his fingernails elongating and sharping – as he faced the one that managed to sneak up on him. What he saw however stunned him, as sitting on a large piece of stone was the man who had given him his powers. The man who gave him the offer to save his partner's life and damn him to become a creature of Darkness.

The Former King of Darkness

" _ **You**_ **!** What are you doing here!? You should be _**dead**_!" he asked the former king as the man smirked and held up his hand.

"I am dead, child. But I am also not the man you spoke with, merely a remnant of what he once was...and a reminder of the deal you made," he hopped off the rock and walked towards him. His body phasing through the stalagmites as if he was made of mist. "Do you remember what the price for my power would be?" Jaune nodded remembering the words that King had told him.

"I made a deal with you, said I would hunt down your former Queen and enact your Vengeance upon her, right?" the spectre nodded as he gestured to himself.

"Well, then consider me a manifestation of that deal. A _reminder_ of the promise you made to me, and the inescapable truth of what you have _**become**_ ," he told the boy as Jaune relaxed as his fingernails retracted.

"…And what have I become?" he asked as the spectre gestured a hand to the boy.

"You have taken my place as a creature of Darkness. A being of extraordinary power that Kings and Generals will quake in fear at your wake. You, who will hunt down the Blood Witch Salem and all her acolytes and bring a swift and brutal vengeance upon them. And then…you will take my place as the ruler of Darkness." He answered with a smirk as he bowed to him.

"You…have become the New King of Darkness – the rightful ruler of all Grimm – and the sword of my undying vengeance"

"I'm…The New King of Darkness…the King of the Grimm?" he looked down at his fingernails slowly retracted as he gripped his fist. A strange and hollow look in his eyes as he stared at the being he was now. "This…this is the power you promised me. The thing that helped me beat that woman…does that mean Pyrrha is safe?" the spectre nodded, and he sighed in relief.

"Yes, you managed to beat that stealer of the _Maiden's_ power and cast her soul in the depths of the Void. There her soul will rot in a sea of Anguish and Despair…for all eternity."

Jaune somehow felt satisfaction in that as images of the woman's hauntingly calm visage played in his mind. Followed soon after by an image of her death as her fear and tear covered face was burned into his mind. He looked down at his fingertips as he glared at them. But images of his friend's terrified faces suddenly appeared before him as the last thing he remembered was the looks of fear each and every one of them had.

"However, in the final moments of the battle, you lost control and nearly killed all of your friends. Fortunately for you, the only ones that did suffer were those Atlas Soldiers – which I would like to point out they shot at you first," he said as Jaune stared down at his hand.

For a brief moment, it was covered in blood and he remembered _everything..._

Terrified faces flooded his vision as images of the Atlas soldiers that shot at him appeared before his look of utter terror forever burned into his mind as he remembered feeling a strange sensation clouding his mind during the whole event.

Like he wasn't even himself.

He grasped a hand over his mouth in an attempt to hold back the taste of vile that boiled in his mouth. But to little effect, as he upheaved what little he had left in his stomach. The former king silently watching as his successor realise the full weight of his unintended actions and the lives that he had taken in his bloodlust.

After a short time is stopped as Jaune managed to calm himself and stare at his hand. The same hand that killed men who were only following their instincts.

"I-I killed those men…Oh, Gods…I-I didn't mean to…But I still feel like me, yet I don't feel like me at the same time…was this supposed to happen?" the being shook his head as his form dispersed into mist and he reappeared behind Jaune.

"No…something happened that made you lose control, to which I have a theory it had something to do with my physiology merging with yours. Something it seems I didn't account for when searching for a Successor?" the King pondered as Jaune looked confused.

"Let me explain, as you know we Grimm are drawn to negative energy, such as anger, despair and fear. We feed off your kind because it was what we were created to do. In most cases, we older Grimm can temper our lust for this negative energy and wait for perfect opportunities to attack your kind. But Younger Grimm, tend to just attack any human or Faunus on sight. And when I gave you my powers, you were considered a newborn Grimm."

"So, when I gave you my powers the large amounts of negative energy that day became too much for your _**'primitive mind'**_ to comprehend and the Darkness of my power started to _**consume**_ your mind and turned you into a mindless beast and sent you into a bloodlust that drove you to attack those soldiers, against your own will." Jaune instantly shook his head at this.

"But, I was fully conscious during the fight with that woman! I remember everything!" the former king shook his head as he waved a hand at the boy.

"No, what you experienced was my _**knowledge**_ and my _**instincts**_ taking over your body. You were merely a passenger while my power took the steering wheel. Why do you think you had no control when you attacked your fellow huntsman and butchered those Atlas soldiers? …Did you honestly do that of your _**own**_ intention?"

Jaune could find no words as he remembered the slow sensation of his senses slipping away in that fight. Like a fog was draped over his mind as he felt like a passenger in the back of a car, rather than the driver itself. But something else nagged at him, something he needed to ask and it made him ask the question.

Was it an accident that the powers nearly consumed him...or was it on purpose?

He turned as he glared at the apparition. "Were you planning on taking over my body?" The former Grimm King instantly glared at the boy.

"No! I had long ago accepted the price I would have to pay to get my revenge. Dying was the only choice. And unlike you humans, I do not need to deceive in order to win and I do not fear death. I am Grimm, I am _pure_ in my resolve to extinguish all life on this planet – such as what my father created me for." he spread his arms out as the shadows almost obeyed his will.

"My kind is the purest thing on entire this planet because we know we do not need to trick our enemies. While your kind will _always_ resort to cowardice tricks to win...it makes me wonder why my father helped to create your kind?" he placed a hand on his chin as he pondered on the thought.

"In any case, the bloodlust was tempered thanks to the silver eyed girl as she managed to interrupt the process and freed your mind from being fully consumed by the Darkness," he explained as Jaune looked at the man.

"Ruby? Silver Eyes? What are you talking about?" he asked the man as he nodded

"Turns out your friend was part of an ancient clan of Warriors called 'The Silver Eyes', the natural enemy of the Grimm. I fought them once centuries ago, so I know she is one of them. It seems that somehow her powers awoke at that moment and altered something inside you. Making you different from what I was intending you to be, you are still to be the King of Darkness and the true ruler of the Grimm." he looked over as Jaune stared at him.

"But now because of her, you have become…something else, not even I know what you'll be capable of?" Jaune looked down at his hands as his fingers became claws before reverting back to their original form.

"So…what happens now?" he asked as the man looked at him.

"Now we find Salem and end her reign, once and for all." He hopped off the rock and started to move towards the exit.

"Wait!" he stopped as he turned to the new King as he glared at him.

"I know I said I'd fulfil my promise – because you helped me save Pyrrha. But I need to know what's so important about killing this Queen of yours – this Salem? Would it be so bad if she wasn't killed? Cause I'm not going to kill someone if it's for petty revenge. I don't kill unless there is a good reason, like my…friends…being in danger," he sat down on a rock and crossed his arms.

"So why does she _**have to die**_ – other than for revenge?" the former King sighed as he should have expected this.

"You're right. I haven't really explained why she needs to die other than for my own personal reason. And like I said I have no control over you to make you find her. Your friends are safe, your partner is alive, and the invasion was definitely stopped and with the Silver Eyed girl affecting the bonding process, I can't force you to kill her." He turned back as he glared into the boy's eyes.

"But there is a reason why she has to die that is both out of _Revenge_ for taking my place…and _Necessity_ to return balance back into the world." Jaune raised an eyebrow as the Grimm King looked off into the distance.

"My father is known as the God of Darkness, he despised everything my uncle created and thus forged the Grimm from his own soul to destroy it. For a time, it was a never-ending cycle of Destruction and Creation – the likes of which your kind would have never seen before. But then Uncle had enough and bargained with my Father to create something they could be both proud of…you, Mankind…" he looked off as he remembered the day his father and uncle set aside their difference to create the human race.

"Not only did they deem you their 'Ultimate Creation' they even gifted you with Gifts not meant for mortal hands. Relics that are beyond your capacity to grasp or control…and I will admit, in a moment of jealousy I waged a war against your kind and fought them for control of the planet. Thinking that by doing this I would be praised by my father and be given control over the planet that he helped create…" he lowered his head as silence echoed in the cavern.

"But in the entire time I fought, I never once heard his voice again…I never knew if my actions were what he wanted…or if I was going against his will by attacking humanity? I was confused and alone…" he shook his head as Jaune looked at the 'man' with almost a small amount of pity.

"After I was defeated, and Salem betrayed me, I realised that my kind was never meant to hold the relics and that our true purpose would forever elude us until the end of days…" he glared as his eyes flashed red.

"But, Salem and her lust for control and power are throwing this world into chaos. And while I may be a being of Darkness, there some lines that must never be crossed. Such as using the Gifts the Gods left behind." he turned back and walked over to him.

"So let me show you what will happen if you _**don't**_ stop her…" he then pressed a finger to Jaune's forehead as his eyes rolled back into his head.

What Jaune saw next was close to being considered a nightmare – if it wasn't for the fact that it felt all too real.

* * *

 _Screaming citizens were running from the Grimm as they feasted and devoured the fleeing humans. Families and homes were burning to the ground as figures in white masks with a blood red symbol of a beast were brandished on their backs marched across the streets._

 _Bandits raided and plundered anything in their path as corpses piled high into the sky with the Four Kingdoms burning to the ground.  
_

 _The bodies of his friends lay upon the floor, as one by one fell to strange men and a woman that served under a tall figure who's feature Jaune could only describe as beautiful and terrifying._

 _The woman held Pyrrha by her neck as her pained and tired face stared back with dull eyes before the woman squeezed and snapped her neck._

 _The woman smirking as she held four lights in her hand as a bright light encumbered all and reduced everything into nothing._

* * *

Jaune gasped as he fell to his knees. A cold sweat present on his brow as he tried to catch the breath he didn't know he was holding in. His now cold heart beating faster in his chest as he stares wide-eyed at the floor, trying to process what he had just seen.

"W-what the heck was that!?" he demanded as the Grimm King looked down upon him.

"That is the _**future**_ if Salem is not stopped…."

Jaune looked down at his hands as he tried to shake away the memory of that horrifying image. But no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn't go away. It was burned into his brain, just like the memory of losing control. When he butchered those men and drank that woman's blood – who he could still taste in his lips.

"But-but that's impossible! How can she do that!? I killed that woman! I saved Beacon!" the Grimm King shook his head.

"No, all you have done is _**delayed**_ _**the**_ _**inevitable**_. With the Kingdom's defences weakened and the Huntsman dead, all she would need to do is send another army and wipe them out. Then she would retrieve the Relic and usher in an age of Darkness the likes of which you've never seen. They wouldn't stand a Chance. But because you killed the Dragon the Grimm will stay away from the city...for a while at least." Jaune shook his head as he tried to gather his thoughts.

"But…but those _**Lights**_ , what were those lights?" the four orbs of light seemed almost familiar to him – or rather familiar to some part of him

"Those are what she seeks. _**Ancient**_ and _**powerful**_ _**Relics**_ gifted to your kind by the Gods that have the ability to _**reshape the world**_ to her whim if she got her hands on all them. But they can only be attained from ancient Vaults by the Maidens of the Seasons – for which you have denied her the first Relic and the Fall Maiden. But she will not stop until _**all the relics**_ are in her possession and d she will _**kill**_ _**anyone**_ who stands in her way…even your friends," Jaune looked at the floor as he processed everything the man told.

"Then…I didn't stop anything, did I? …They're still in danger…" he asked as the King nodded.

"Yes, but what you have given them is a chance. A chance to regain their strength and prepare themselves for her arrival. But with how I know she'll act, they will not see it coming. Unless you find her and _**kill her**_ before she gets the chance." Jaune looked down as he thought about everything.

At first, he had no idea what he would be getting into when he accepted this power from the Former King of Darkness – and honestly, he didn't give a damn about the consequences. All he cared about was saving Pyrrha and stopping that woman from killing her, that's all that mattered to him. But now it seemed that she – and the rest of his friends – were still in danger despite gaining this power.

This woman, this Salem – Queen of the Grimm – was the true enemy and he had only stopped one of her agents.

Which meant that there were others, like Cinder, working to destroy everything he had ever held dear to him. Even though they feared him – he still cared for them. And if they died - because he didn't face her - then he would have sacrificed his humanity for nothing. And if what he had seen at Beacon was what she planned to do the rest of the world, it meant that if he didn't stop them many others would suffer, including his friends...

And that was something he would never allow.

He sighed as he looked back. "Alright…where do we have to go? Where can I find her?" the King shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know?"

Silence returned to the cave as Jaune snapped his head to the spirit. "What?! What do you mean you don't know?! You were the King of Darkness! She was your Queen! how could you forget where she is!?" the man glared as he raised his fingers.

"First: It's been over a thousand years since I last saw her and many things could have changed over that amount of time, and no doubt she would have one day expected me to return. For all, I know she may have moved the castle somewhere else…or at least I think the castle can move? Or am I thinking of something else…not sure?" Jaune blinked as the man tried to remember something.

"Second: because of your friend's silver eyes you've lost most of my power as well as the memories I once possessed of that place. All you're left with is the basics of rapid healing, enhanced strength and shapeshifting – which at the moment is arguably non-functional at best. So even if you went to face off against Salem, you wouldn't have a chance against her and the army of Grimm she will no doubt place on her doorstep."

"Wait, so you mean all that power I had…is gone?"

"Not completely, it will return in time after every trace of the Silver Eye Energy is purged from your body. Which will take some time, seeing as there are lingering traces from taking a full blast at close range. But Salem will no doubt send many assassins after you in the hopes of killing you and drain you of my power. And if what your memories show of that Fall Maiden are true, then she may have actually found a way to do so…not a good sign"

"So, what do we do? Just wait till they recharge and then go after her? We don't even know where she is?" the Grimm king shook his head as he grinned.

"No, but I know of a way to gain more power and track her down…" he raised his ghostly hand as red mist poured out of his palm and levitated in the air.

"While it is true you are not at full strength, I do know of ways to increase your power enough to help us survive until it recovers. Secrets that I managed to maintain and hide from Salem, places of dark magic lost to the world and inaccessible to everyone…baring me," the mist soon took the shape of a map of Remnant as four lights shone in different sections of the world. In the same locations as the four Academies.

"You don't know this but before mankind relied on the Dust that grew beneath their feet, your people once had the ability to wield magic without it. It was part of the gifts the Gods gave to you, it was how people like Salem and Ozpin were able to gift others with powers…" Jaune snapped his head at this as he heard Ozpin's name.

"Wait a minute! Ozpin – my headmaster – could use magic!?" The Grimm King hummed.

"Not him specifically, more the entity that is part of Ozpin. It is a long and complicated story – one he will no doubt have to explain himself as I have little care for him," he waved his hand dismissively as he turned back to the map.

"But we are getting off hand. Long ago, your kind could use magic, but over the centuries you slowly lost that ability with the only traces of Magic left in the world are the Maidens, Salem and your former headmaster…though his power has dwindled over time. But during the 'Age of Magic' – before Ozpin and Salem - there were those who studied the Magic's' of Light…" the four lights shone on the map.

"And those who studied the Powers of Darkness…" four other lights appeared, glowing with a dark and malice lights. One in the large dragon-shaped island between Sanus, one in the middle of Sanus. Another on Solitas and one at Anima.

"These temples were raised and dedicated to the Dark teachings and housed powers long since lost to man, not even Salem knows of their existence…luckily, however, I still do." Jaune raised an eyebrow as the man looked upon Remnant.

"I had watched the building of these temples and saw the followers of these cults harness the ancient power of Darkness, only to destroy themselves in the process and then hidden away by the Followers of the Light. Lost forever amongst the sands of time and forgotten by all…well, all but me. These temples will have the necessary power to give us an edge over Salem and hasten the recovery of our power…"

"The Temple of Raging Fire…" The temple in Anima glowed as a burning pair of Gauntlets formed over the map.

"The Sect of the Frozen Void…" a sword covered in ice glowed as it hovered under the ruins of Mantle.

"The Shine of Crumbling Fear…" In between the Continent of Sanus, a glowing yellow whip shone as earth crumbled around it.

"…and the Palace of Consuming Corruption…" a large golden palace turned pitch black as thorns of black and red grew over the palace and swallowed it whole in a cocoon of thorns and death.

"These were the dark counterparts of the worlds which oppose the Light. These are ancient and terrible powers, the likes of which no man can ever hope to possess or control…luckily you are now no ordinary man, and thus should be able to wield their power." he looked back to the boy.

"They should give you the edge you need to take Salem down and reclaim my throne as the _True_ Ruler of Darkness…" Jaune looked at the four relics as each of them looked terrifying but also desiring at the same time. However, a thought occurred to him.

"If you knew of these places, why didn't you go after them yourself? Get those powers and reclaim the throne?" the Grimm King smirked as he waved the map away.

"I once attempted it after I was banished long ago, but because I had lost all of my powers I could not enter those places. They were sealed by the light so that no man, woman nor Grimm can enter and retrieve their power. Yet you are special, as the only dark being on this planet with a soul. This makes you unique and will allow you to enter the temples and claim their powers…" Jaune pondered this before nodding.

"Okay, so that's how we get the power back. But how are we going to track Salem? If parts of your memories were damaged because of Ruby, how are we going to track her?" the King grinned as the mist returned.

"While most of my memories and those you have consumed became damaged, there is still a few thoughts lingering from that Cinder woman. And one of them was this man…" the mist formed into a man a middle-aged man with a mane of tan/grey hair and a beard. With a tanned complexion, brown eyebrows and dark brown eyes.

"According to her memory, his name is Leonardo Lionheart, and apparently she was to meet him in Mistral at Haven Academy,"

"Haven? That's the Academy Cinder was supposed to hail from…that must be how she got into the Vytal Festival. But what does he have to do with it?" the Grimm King pondered as he looked at the man.

"I don't know, I never really much cared for the politics of mankind, or what Salem was up to. All I cared about was finding a successor for my power and breaking this curse. But it seems that Salem had been busy in the past thousand years, planning and manipulating for the Beacon Invasion. She is a crafty one after all…" he glared as he thought about the woman who came to him years ago for power, only to betray him in the end.

"But we've wasted enough time and we should be headed to the first site, the Temple of Raging Fire. We need that power if you want to have any hope of killing Salem and saving your friends," Jaune nodded as he stood up.

"Oh, there is one more thing before we depart, something I feel like I should tell you," Jaune raised an eyebrow as he stared at the King.

"When you were hit with the power of the Silver Eyes Energy it reacted differently in your body because you are not a full Grimm because you still possessed a soul. So, your body's natural instincts forced itself to hide and recuperate until it flushed out all the Silver Energy in your body, which…kind of…forced you into a coma for Five Months," he said the last part out really fast as Jaune just stared at the man, until finally-

"What!? Five Months!? I've been asleep for Five Months!?"

"Well, Four Months and Twenty-Nine days if you want to be more accurate."

That didn't help as Jaune glared at him. "Don't blame me, blame your friend who blasted you with Silver Eyed energy back at Beacon! And blame yourself because you lost control in a Blood-Rage and took said blast to the face! Not my fault!" Jaune just glared before he sighed.

"Is there anything else I should know?" he asked

"Well, …you're not on Sanus anymore…"

"What?"

"It would appear that you're on Anima. Coincidently one of the first stops we have to make is in Mistrals Direction...Though it is strange that your consciousness brought us all the way out here. I would have assumed it would have taken you back to your ancestral birthplace, as all Grimm eventually return back to their source…why here though?" he asked as Jaune looked around the cavern.

"This…I know this place," The Grimm King looked at him as he raised an eyebrow.

"This is one of the Caverns my family used to explore on our holidays, right near Shion Village," Jaune ran his hand across the stone surface as his eyesight adjusted to the light.

He smiled when he found small child-like scratching's of a knight battling an evil dragon. "I used to play in these caves with my sisters when I was a kid, dreaming of being a great Hero like my ancestors…" a thought occurred to him as he placed a hand to his head.

"Oh Gods…my family…" he sat down on a stone as he looked at his pale skin and sharp claws. "How the hell am I going to explain this? What the hell will they say about me?"

"I wouldn't worry about it," he turned as the Former King glared at him. "Because if we don't succeed and stop Salem from gaining the Relics…then your family will meet the same fate that awaits your friends…" Jaune looked at the carvings on the wall as he nodded.

"You're right…we need to get moving…" however, before he could make it to the entrance, The Grimm King stopped him.

"But first things first, you need new clothes. It would be unwise to go gallivanting around in nothing but your undies. And unfortunately, the shapeshifting ability is still a little wonky at the moment, so you can't just make clothes," Jaune raised an eyebrow at this and looked down to see himself only in his remaining jeans.

"Fair point…well if this is the cave I know, then Shion village must not be too far away. I can probably get some clothes there, and maybe find out what happened in the past five months? Looks like my wallet managed to survive, so there's some good fortune," the former king nodded as he faded away as Jaune made his way to the entrance.

When he exited the cave, the first thing he noticed was the moonlight sky, as the fragmented remains of Remnants moon hung over the night sky. The moons casting the emerald green forest in a gentle blue aura as the many sounds of the night echoed through his enhanced hearing. Jaune looked around as memories of his childhood came back to him, as he watched images of his family trekking up the hills and set up camp just over the ridge. He smiled softly as he allowed his sense to be overwhelmed with nostalgia…

Before the familiar scent of smoke and blood found its way

He instantly snapped his head to the west as his eyes focused on a large plume of smoke that began to drift into the sky, above a blaze of orange that burned far from the New King. Yet the direction it was coming from, was from a place Jaune had visited all too often with his family…

Shion Village

"That doesn't look good?" the former King stated as he manifested beside Jaune, who ignored him and focused his vision further as he peered across the emerald forest and gazed into the orange blaze. His eyes widened as groups of armed men and woman were seen attacking the village. Huntsman was attempting to hold the line, but they were just being overwhelmed by the attacking group.

"Bandits…" this time Jaune turned to him as the Former King looked at the attack.

"This kind of thing usually happens this far out of Kingdom protected territories. Humans who prey on the weak and steal from them because they refused to earn it themselves or follow the rules of your Society rules. Hmm, it always confused me why your kind always fought amongst yourselves instead of uniting as one? …but then again, that is how Father created you all," Jaune pondered his words before he looked back to the village in flames.

"This is horrible! They're killing them!"

"No, they're just weakening their defences, then they're going to leave the rest of it to the Grimm. Typical tactic of the Bandits, I've seen it happen multiple times over the past 500 years…" he then shook his head as he turned. "We should get going, this village is done for," Jaune snapped back to the King as he glared.

"What!? You can't be serious, they need our help!" the King only shook his head.

"We don't have time to waste on rescuing villages, there is a tyrant out there plotting to destroy the world unless we find the Temples of Darkness and stop her from gaining the Relics hidden under the Academies. If we stop to save every burning village we come across we'll never get to Haven… Besides, once they find out what you are they will turn their blades upon you – even if you rescue them from this attack…it would be meaningless in the end," He narrowed his eyes as he watched the boy stare at the village.

"The Village will fall, there is nothing you can do…"

Jaune, however, didn't seem to care as he stared at the burning village, the village holding many fond memories for the boy as he watched them all slowly being consumed by flames of selfish ambition and hatred. He gripped his fist as he could no longer stand to see it in such a state.

"Boy…"

"I don't care…" he interrupted as the boy stared into the flames as his red eyes reflected the orange blaze.

"I don't care if it is _meaningless_ , I don't care if they do turn against me because of what I am, or if the village will fall in the end …" he raised an eyebrow as he looked upon the young King. "I'm not going to walk away as innocent people are slaughtered like animals!" he held out his hand as the black pistol appeared in a wisp of black smoke.

"And you said before that I can do whatever _I want_ with your power, right? So why the hell can't I help them?" he looked back as he glared at the King. "Besides, I may be the New King of Darkness, but I'll choose how I use your power…" The Former King stared at his successor as he gazed into determined red eyes, that for a moment, burned brightly against the darkness…

It almost made him feel… _proud_ of him.

"…Answer me this, are you willing to _kill_ _them_ , if you have the chance?" Jaune paused as he looked at the gun that manifested in his hands as the black steel reflected his new visage.

"…If I can avoid it, _maybe_. But right now, I need to get there and stop the attack…whatever the cost" the King smirked before he faded away.

"Very well, Young King…show them what you've got. But be warned, the longer you fight…the more the bloodlust will take over"

Jaune then turned as the muscles in his legs tensed and he blasted towards the village. His speed, unlike anything he had felt before as the forest almost became a blur to him, with the shockwave almost powerful enough to rip the even the most rooted tree from its rest. But Jaune had little care as the village drew closer to him and the scent of blood and ash grew more pungent.

Finally, the outline of the first came to him as he bolted from the woods and charged at the burning village, ready to fight for the town that had been a place of fondness to him…

Even if he had to stain the grounds with blood.

* * *

Shion Village – A Few Moments Earlier

* * *

Gunshots echoed amongst the screams and pleas of terror as Shay D. Mann -

 _(A/N I swear to God that's his actual name, the guy Yang met in the Bar)_

– fired his revolver at the villager's defences while his Branwen Brethren fought by his side. Raven had ordered him and his men to attack the village, weaken it enough to obliterate their defences and then leave before the Grimm appeared. They should have left before nightfall, but the Village somehow managed to hire on some Huntsman to help them defend the village.

A pointless gesture as they were fully aware of Huntsman tactics and could not help them change the outcome of this village. "Keep it up, Men! Raven wants this village and we only have to weaken them a little longer, then we just leave them to the Grimm!" he yelled to his men. "Then we take the spoils" he grinned as he fired again.

Suddenly something burst from the treelines as blur shot over the flames and landed straight in the middle of the courtyard. The fighting instantly stopped as everyone – both villager and bandit alike – turned to the large plume of dust that landed in the centre. "What the hell?" the dust slowly settled to reveal a pale teenage boy with long black hair.

When his eyes opened he thought for a moment that he was Ravens' son. But Raven had no sons, only a daughter, and he could tell there was something different from this boy, something…cold?

"I'm giving you only one chance!" the boy suddenly spoke as he glared at the bandit. "Leave this village and the people alone, and I will spare your lives! If you don't, you'll leave me no choice but to fight! No one has to die!" he commanded as he stood before the assembled bandit.

For a moment silence drifted amongst the burning village of Shion as everyone stared at the brass demand of the teenage shirtless boy. Only then to laugh as every bandit laughed at the absurd demanding of one lone boy. The mere thought that this one child could turn the tide of this villages fate was unheard of, that they could not help but laugh.

Surely an entertaining joke that would make even Raven herself chuckle…If only they knew beforehand what stood before them…then maybe what happened next could have been avoided.

"Listen, kid," Shay said as he walked confidently over to the boy. "As entertaining as it is to see this we have an order to complete. Our leader wants this village destroyed, so we going to destroy it…" he chuckled even as the boy glared at him. "So why don't you run along and get somewhere safe, and we'll _let_ _you_ live, how does that sound?" he asked confidently as the boy shook his head and gripped his gun.

"Not going to happen" he answered back as Shad only sighed.

"Very well…kill the kid," he ordered the bandits as they all aimed their guns at him and fired.

Jaune's new instincts instantly kicked in, as he unnaturally evaded the bullets and moved at a speed that stunned the bandits. Yet before they could even respond, he ran towards Shay and punched him square in the face. Even though he tried to hold back, the punch was so strong it bypassed his aura and sent him flying back into a wall as all the bandits – and even the villagers – stared in shock at the brutal strength of the lightly armed boy.

Shay groaned as he fell face first to the floor, a tooth falling out from his mouth as blood seeped from his lips. The other bandits managed to shake off their shock as they all turned to the boy and aimed their weapons.

"Oh, you are so dead!" one of them yelled as he fired multiple rounds at the boy.

But Jaune's new speed easily allowed him to evade the bullets as the incoming projectiles seemed almost slow to him he ducked and weaved his way past the bullets. He then aimed his own gun and fired, the high calibre Dust Rounds the Grimm King had stored in the gun instantly exploded against his chest as the bandit was sent sailing back and into a wall. Several others tried to rush at him with their swords or axes, but Jaune merely used the large black pistol to deflect and redirect their attacks.

He then punched and backhanded any that got to close to him, as his enhanced strength easily overwhelmed them and sent them flying away. One of the larger ones of the group tried to split him in half with an Axe coated in flames, but Jaune merely blocked the axe with his gun as sparks shot off the two steel weapons.

"You little shit! I'll cut you in half!" the larger man growled as he pushed against the boy who seemed not to care.

The muscles in his arms bulged as he slowly began to push the larger man back – who looked more stunned the more he tried to force himself. Jaune then brought up his foot and kicked the man square in the chest and sent him spiralling away and into two of his comrades.

One of the female members came swinging at him with her sword as she was determined to slice his head from his body. But the boy merely sidestepped her attack and fired another round that knocked a huge portion out of her aura reserves. Only then to be backhanded by Jaune and slammed into a tree, out cold.

He then turned his attention to the last remaining members of the Bandits as Shay managed to get back up and looked at all his comrades that were incapacitated and glared at the boy.

"What the hell is this guy?" he asked as the boy merely pulled back the hammer on his gun and glared with red eyes to the man.

Meanwhile, the villagers and the remaining Huntsman managed to get themselves over to the main hall as they barricaded themselves inside. But even they were stunned at the fight that waged outside their hall as the mysterious black-haired teen arrived just in the nick of time. However, despite the ease in which he was dispatching the bandits they were still sceptical as well as good fortunes such as these usually didn't last long, and folk of the wilds usually took things with a grain of salt.

They wondered how long he could keep it up for and if he could actually beat them or not?

However, one was not focused on the battle as she desperately searched the ruins of her home as a small child, no older than eight years old, woke up to smoke and confusion as she desperately searched for her parents. Her soft cries slowly growing louder as she wandered through all the chaos and carnage.

"M-mama! Papa! Where are you!" she cried as she walked through the smoke and ash completely ignorant of the fighting that waged on around her. So afraid that she could barely hear the cries of the townspeople to come to safety or the sounds of the bandits spotting her. The only thing she did fell was a dark embrace and the sound of screams as she opened her eyes to stare into red animal-like eyes.

Followed by an inhuman roar, a gunshot and the screams of agonising pain

Earlier, Jaune was finding it harder to concentrate as he felt the same bloodlust that had overwhelmed him in beacon beginning to rise. The constant fighting and the overwhelming negative energies that now surrounded the village made it even harder for him to control his powers. The voices of the bandits crawling to white noise as he started to become less focused and less accurate with his shots.

This did not go unnoticed as Shay grinned. "He's getting disoriented! Keep it up!" he yelled as Jaune cursed while bullets flew past him.

"This isn't looking good," the voice of the King resonated in his ear as the Grimm King watched his successor fight. "I can feel the bloodlust rising up in you, keep this up and it won't be long till you lose control again," he surmised as Jaune growled.

"Shut up! I can do this!" he growled even as he fired back at the bandits. Suddenly the gun stopped firing as he looked at the gun. "Shit! Out of ammo!" the bandits noticed this as they grinned.

"He's out! Lay it on him!" Shay yelled as Jaune cursed and got ready to summon his sword.

But then his ears picked up a sound, the sound of a cry as he turned to see a small child wandering aimlessly amongst the battlefield. She was a small girl with light blond hair wearing a torn up and dirt covered dress as she held a small stuffed animal in her hand that dragged across the ground. Her eyes were closed as she continued to cry tears and call out her parents.

The world seemed to slow as he noticed the bandits take note of her as the blond one with the mission tooth growl in annoyance and aimed his gun at her.

Something inside of him forced his body to move as sped towards the girl at breakneck speed. Dark red aura trailing behind him as he raced to the small frightened girl and shrouded her with his body, just as the first bullet left the barrel. The bullet lodged itself into his back as blood sprayed in the air, Jaune grunted in pain as he felt the projectile twist and burrow its way inside.

Luckily it seemed his new 'Dark Aura' managed to prevent the bullet from passing right through him and protected the child. The bandits, however, had seen him bleed, and that was enough to keep on fighting.

"Kill him! Pump his body full of dust!" Shay yelled as every single bandit in the village fired upon the boy.

Bullets ripping and tearing into his back as Jaune continued to hold the young girl to his chest. The small child screaming in fear as the gunshots continued to echo in the night as the villagers could only watch in horror as they fired relentlessly at the boy. Shay laughing as he shot at the boy who dared to interrupt their raid and punched him in the face.

Raven wouldn't be happy about wasting so much ammunition, but kid needed to die, that's all that mattered.

The last bullet casing hit the floor as every bandit in the village had just spent the last of their ammo. Smoke permeated the battlefield as many waited, expecting to see a bullet-riddled corpse and a dead child. They found a bullet filled body, but it was anything but a corpse…

Jaune's back was torn and shredded as the multiple bullets had torn the skin from his back and exposed the bone and flesh. Blood pooling all around him as the rich crimson blood appeared to almost glow amongst the fires and moonlight. But despite all that he still held the child in his arms as he protected her from the onslaught. The little girl looking up in fear and worry as the black-haired teen was breathing heavily and painfully.

Shay grinned as he released all the empty casing from his revolver. "Heh, tough bastard. Stupid, but tough…" he placed a single bullet in the chamber as he walked towards the pair. "Might as well put him out of his misery…" red eyes flashed as the 'injured' boy spun around and aimed his gun at Shay.

To this day Jaune still couldn't explain the exact nature of his new 'Dark Aura', but he had a general idea. In his moment of rage, pain and anger the 'Dark Aura' obeyed his will and surged its way around his gun, forged itself into a bullet and fired at the bandit.

Now seeing as his 'Dark Aura' or Anti-Aura was the opposite of regular aura it had different effects. For one; it didn't protect him as much as the regular aura does – because he had rapid healing abilities – and only seemed to protect the vital organ of his heart. Not sure why? but he didn't question it.

However, because Aura was the natural force of Light that repelled and protected against attacks, what do you suppose the opposite did? The answer…to consume and destroy.

That came all too painfully for Shay as his deafening scream echoed throughout the village as his entire arm exploded into chunks of flesh and he screamed in agonising pain.

He held his bloody stump of an arm as he fell to the floor screaming in pain. The bandits felt a surge of fear run down their throats as they looked at the man screaming in pain. The pain almost unbearable as he stared through tear-soaked eyes at the remains of his right arm. However, that was nothing compared to the fear he felt as Jaune slowly towered over him.

Red eyes glared out at the man bandits in the village as his bloody and broken body stood against all odds.

Then, almost as if it was alive, the blood on the ground began to move and surge towards him, glowing with an unnatural red light as it flooded back into his body. His back – which had been previously ripped to piece – started to sew back together as bone and flesh mended back into its original shape. He stood before the bandits – completely healed – as blood red and angry eyes glared into the terrified bandits that stood before him.

His Dark Aura flared around him as he became cloaked in a visage of dark red and black shadows. This sent fear down the spines of everyone present, barring the little girl as she looked at the back of the man who saved her. A second pistol manifested in his hands as he aimed both the black and silver guns at the bandits and fired.

What followed could only be described as a massacre, as the dark aura easily penetrated their barriers and tore them to pieces.

Men and woman screamed in pain and agony as limbs and chunks of their own bodies violently exploded in a horrible display of blood and violence. The bandits tried to fight back but the boy seemed to move almost like shadows as he sped towards them, guns blazing as he decimated the bandits.

"Holy shit! What the hell is he!?"

"Who cares!? Just fucking kill him! - Gah!" the bandit managed to say, only to be ripped to shreds by the bullets. One of the larger members of their group tried to cut him in half with his axe, only for Jaune to grab hold of the axe with one hand and rip the weapon from him…

Along with his arms as well.

"ARGH!" the man screamed as another aimed a grenade-like launcher at the boy and fired a fire dust explosion, covering him in bright flames. But that did little to stop him as he stood in the centre of the blaze. The silver gun disappearing as Crocea Dark took its place and he glared at the one who shot him and sliced his head from his body.

Shay could only watch in horror as the black-haired teen decimate his men with little care and ease as his blood red eyes seemed to glow amongst the fires of Shion Village.

"D-Demon…H-he's a demon!" Jaune's blood red eyes glared out as the flames seemed to almost obey his commands and parted like the seas in the old testament of Remnant.

He took the opportunity to flee as he held his bloody stump and ran into the forest, hoping to get away from the monster that was currently destroying his men. If he was a soldier many would have considered him a coward and a traitor to his brothers. But he was a bandit, abandoning your comrades was essential in survival.

He had to flee, there was no other option, even as he tried to shut out the bloody and painfilled screams of his comrades...

* * *

Finally, the blood feast ended as Jaune stood in the centre of what could only be described as a massacre, as bits and pieces of the bandits lay everywhere in twisted and misshapen heaps. Their faces twisted into looks of pain and fear as the last thing they felt in their life was pain and absolute fear. This was the power that Jaune had inherited…

This was the power of the King of Darkness.

Jaune felt the bloodlust slowly fade as stared down at the mutilated corpses of his fallen foes. His hands covered in blood as the aroma and intoxication of fresh blood seemed to soothe him greatly. Just thinking that made him sick. Was this what he wanted? Was this what he wanted to become when he accepted these powers?

Was this meant to be his life now?

"Hold it right there!"

He turned to see one of the few remaining huntsmans, with spiky, light-brown hair and hazel eyes. He wore a short-sleeved grey and black jacket with yellow trim, underneath a chest plate with large, dark grey, sturdy straps. He had grey gloves with metal backings and multiple layers that extended up past his elbows, and black pants with white sleeves and black boots. His weapon appeared to be a white and grey gun of some sort with a scope

He aimed his rifle at the boy as he and the other villagers looked at him with fear. "I don't know who you are, or why you helped us. But I'm ordering you to stay back! You may not be with the Bandits but you're clearly not human! So, stay back!" he ordered as he aimed his rifle while Jaune narrowed his eyes at the man.

"Told you Jaune," the phantom of the King said as he appeared only to Jaune. "Even if you saved them they will turn on you, it was a waste time…" Jaune was almost inclined to agree as he felt the fear that radiated from him and everyone else. The last time he felt it was in his bloodlust against the Atlas soldiers, and that ended all too grimly.

But before he or anyone could react, the little girl he saved ran up to him – despite the pleas of the villagers. She stood before the boy as she noticed the still healing bullet holes on his arm. She then gestured him to kneel as he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Sit, you're injured," she said as the boy blinked in confusion.

She gestured again as she grabbed his arm in an attempt to pull him down to her level, only to struggle as she puffed her cheeks against his strength. Jaune didn't really know what to do but relented as he kneeled down to the girl's level, to which she smiled at. She then tore off a piece of her dress and messily wrapped it around his arm.

"There, that should help!" she said almost proudly as Jaune looked at the white fabric on his arm and at the smiling little girl. The villagers themselves looked almost as dumbstruck as him but dared not to move in case he attacked them like the bandits. Jaune, however, reached out as many flinched, thinking he was going to kill the girl.

But instead placed a gentle hand on her head and stroked the light blond hair that permeated her scalp. "That's very kind of you, what's your name?" he asked as the girl smiled.

"Integra…my name is Integra," she smiled back as the boy smiled softly at her own.

"Thank you, Integra" he smiled as the girl smiled back.

This small interaction seemed to calm the villagers down, as the Huntsman slowly lowered his rifle seeing as the boy seemed to not be a threat to them at the moment. Even if he had to fight the boy, he doubted he would last long against this stranger. If the remains of the Bandits were anything to go by.

"Um…sorry about that," the Huntsman said as Jaune shook his head.

"It's alright, I don't blame you for fearing me. To be truthful I'm afraid of myself as well…" the huntsman looked confused before Jaune shook his head. "In any case what's the situation here, where did those bandits come from?" the huntsman sighed as he gestured to the symbol on the bandits.

"Those were bandits from the Branwen Clan, a group of bandits that had been attacking small villages like these for months. I had orders from Haven to assist in defending this place from them. But the intel was way off, there should not have been these many bandits attacking us, I'm just glad you arrived in time, another second and we'd be goners" he said as Jaune narrowed his eyes hearing this.

"What about your team, where are they?" he asked, even as he felt a small amount of guilt at leaving his own.

"Most of them are dead, I sent one to scout out the area, but he hasn't come back yet so I'm assuming the worse. And I've got another one injured inside that needs medical attention. But with supplies, as they are now, I doubt we are going to last much longer, especially when the Grimm attack soon…" the King manifested beside Jaune as he looked to the forest.

"He's right, I can already feel the presence of my brethren coming this way. It won't be much longer till they get here," Jaune nodded as he turned back to the Huntsman.

"Are there any other villages close by, somewhere you can get these people to safety and hold out?" he asked as the man thought for a moment.

"Takefu Village, it's a small smiting village about two days travel from here. But with the Bandits that will no doubt seek revenge for this and the injured we have, I don't know if we'll be able to get there, even _if_ we manage to hold out against the Grimm…" Jaune nodded as he turned to the forest.

"Alright, I'll deal with the Grimm and the Bandits afterwards, you all just stay inside the main hall and don't come out till daybreak. Whatever happens, _do not come out_ , I will be fine..." the Huntsman wanted to argue against such a foolish endeavour. But the look in his eyes made him recoil at the red glare in his eyes. He nodded as he told everyone to retreat into the hall.

Integra looked up at him as he looked down and smiled at her. "Don't worry, I'll be fine…go find your parents and I promise you I'll keep you all safe," she continued to stare as she looked at him with a determined gaze.

"You sure?" she asked as he nodded.

"Of course, I'm an Arc after all…" the Huntsman turned back to him when he heard the name as he faced the forest. "And an Arc never goes back on his word," the Huntsman stared before he grabbed Integra and pulled her back into the hallway as her blue eyes watched the man face the Darkness just as the doors closed shut.

Jaune looked out to the forest as an unsettling silence echoed throughout the village. Red eyes slowly emerged from the shadows as the beasts of Darkness slowly lumbered towards the village, the negative energy and scent of blood enticing them as they moved to consume the life that lay behind the main halls doors.

The Former King manifested beside Jaune as he looked to his many brethren. "While I _detest_ the idea of fighting my own kind, I see that nothing I say will persuade you from this foolish notion?" Jaune said nothing as he readied his sword and black gun. The king only sighed as he looked to his brethren.

"Very well, you are the New King after all and they are not _my Grimm_ anymore, not until she is dead…but don't waste any more time…" he began to fade as the beasts revealed themselves in the light of the fires. "The longer we wait, the more Salem will realise our weakened state…" the beasts growled as Jaune's eyes flashed red.

"…And then nothing will stand in her way,"

A bloodthirsty roar echoed into the night as the Beasts of Grimm charged into the flames as Jaune realised his own roar and rushed to meet them. The sounds of gunshots and roars resonated in the broken moonlight as the world would once again be shaken by the presence of the New King of Darkness. One Grimm however, sensed the energy that resonated from the boy and opted not to attack, its back riddled with enough arrows and spears to know the difference between the humans it faced, and the being that slaughtered his comrades.

It sensed the energy It had not felt in 500 years, the energy of the Fallen King, a powerful foe not to be trifled with.

Knowing that the large Grimm turned and left the battlefield, knowing that a confrontation with its old master would lead to nothing but his own death. Its arms dragging along the floor as it left in the dirt large hove shaped footprints as a reminder of its presence on this earth.

All the while its brothers screamed in agony as the New King of Darkness carved his way through the dark hoard, willing to protect the humanity he had left behind for the sake of his friends. For, after all, Jaune was no longer just a being of Darkness, he was…

Something more

* * *

Daybreak – Somewhere in the forest of Anima

* * *

A trail of blood dripped behind as Shay desperately scurried his way through the forest. His right arm missing as the pain still surged from the stump. But that meant nothing to him as he continued to run through the forest.

"I-I need to get back! Back to the Camp! Raven! Raven needs to know about this!"

He looked behind him as the shadows of the forest sent fear down his spine as he felt for a moment the boy was chasing him. He stumbled his way through the forest before he came upon a large wooden gate with two men guarding the entrance as the banner of the Branwen Clan flowed from overhead.

"Halt! Who goes there - Shay? Is that you? What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be attacking Shion Village – what happened to your arm!?" one of the guards asked as the man stumbled towards him.

"Never mind that! Gah! J-Just open the gate, now!" he yelled as the men nodded and signalled the watchers to open the gate. He stumbled his way into the camp as he desperately made his way to the large tent at the end of the trail.

From out of the ten stood a pale woman with long black hair wearing blood red and black clothing's, with five necklaces around her neck, what looked like feathers attached to her right hip and red armour on her arms with a black katana and sheath with multiple blades on her side. Under her arm was a white Grimm-like mask that was reminiscent of a bird.

Her name was Raven Branwen, twin sister of Qrow Branwen, mother of Yang Xiao Long and leader of the Branwen Clan.

She glared at the man as a young woman stood by her side, with tan-coloured skin, short brown hair and icy blue eyes. She had a tattoo of a bird rising from flowers on her left arm while also wearing a brown vest over a torn white shirt, with a collar that appears to spike up behind her neck and maroon-coloured pants with the right side rolled up to her thigh with dark brown knee guards that went down to her brown boots.

Raven glared as she looked at the bleeding man before her. "Shay, what happened to you, and where are the rest of your men? Don't tell me those Huntsman actually managed to drive you off?" the woman asked as the man came kneeling before her as he bowed his head while holding his bloody stump that managed to heal over with his aura.

"Raven, you don't understand! We-we were attacked! S-Something came out of the forest and killed my men! It was like a demon! A monster! Like nothing I'd ever seen before!"

"A Grimm? I thought I told you to weaken their defences and then leave before the Grimm arrived?" the man shook his head at this.

"No, it wasn't a Grimm! And it wasn't a Huntsman! It was…It was something else!" Raven narrowed her eyes at this as she shared a glance to the young woman beside her.

"What did this creature look like?" she asked as Shay looked up with fear in his eyes.

"It-it looked like…a boy?" before she could ask any further questions loud gunshots echoed from the front of the camp as everyone turned to the front gates. "Oh, Gods…its him!" Shay muttered as Raven looked at him then back at the gates before putting on her mask.

Gunshots resonating as the guards at the front screamed in fear behind the wooden gates. Everyone tensed as the screams grew louder before they shifted their gaze and gasped in horror as the two guardsmen came falling from the sky, then before anyone could save them…

They were impaled on the large stakes that guarded the camp.

They screamed as flesh met wood as blood exploded from their bodies in large amounts as blood trailed down the wooden spikes as some in the camp screamed in terror, while those with weaker stomachs upheaved their breakfast. Raven herself could barely look at the scene as she watched her men be displayed in such a horrible fashion. While the woman beside her – Vernal – up heaved onto the floor.

Everyone then turned their attention back to the gates as the world grew uncomfortably silent. Everyone's heart beating faster in their chest as many held a firm grip on their weapons as they waited for whoever it was that attacked their camp.

The gate literally exploded as the large wooden gate came tumbling through the camp, destroying many of the tents and killing a few others as it headed straight for Raven's tent, who did not move an inch as it barely missed her and destroyed her tent. She looked between the large gate that now rested at the end of the camp and back to the front as large black smoke permeated their vision.

Then from the dark smoke shone two red eyes as a figure walked towards them. Everyone tensed as the figure revealed himself to be a teenage boy with long black hair, pale skin that was soaked in the blood of their comrades and blood red eyes that sent fear down many of their spines. In his hands were two handguns, one silver and the other obsidian black as he stood before the large group of bandits.

Red eyes glared at each other as the New King of Darkness stood before the Raven Queen of Bandits. Two forces of great power and terrifying resolve as many wondered what would happen. And most importantly…

What was going to happen to them?

* * *

 **And Scene. Yeah, I'm going to end the chapter here. Sorry everyone, if I keep going I'm going to hit the word limit and I need another chapter for this confrontation. So, I decided to change things up and have Jaune save Shion village this time, instead of stumbling across it.**

 **Because it had been plaguing my mind for months of what would happen if Shion Village had managed to survive, and also sets up a way for the others o track Jaune down, the same with Jaune now facing Raven**

 **Raven will live, but when I wrote this I was still kind of pissed at her for joining forces with Cinder's group – even if it was only temporarily. So, she will survive her encounter with the New King, but it will shake things up a bit and maybe get her to realise that siding with the enemy is not the best plan.**

 **Also, like I said in the previous chapter, Jaune will need to earn his powers and many had argued that I made him OP in the last chapter. So, by having Ruby's Silver Eyes powers affecting him and bringing him down to a more acceptable level, hopefully, I have made it more believable. And relax he will get his powers back over time, but he will have to fight hard to make it to Haven and track down Salem.  
**

 **Also, because I have no idea where she is, I made it that the Silver Eyes also affected the Grimm Kings memories and that of Cinder who he drained. And tell me what you think of the Temple ideas? I figured that at some point humans had to have the ability to use magic it must have been centuries ago. How else would it explain Ozpin and Salem?**

 **Also, I'm not sure if Raven was actually apart of the attack on Shion, but if she originally was, I'll just say that she had to deal with something else and left Shay to lead the attack.**

 **Hope that is alright, plus I felt it made Jaune's arrival into the camp more...intimidating if she was there.**

 **So, tell me what you think and let me know with a review, I love getting feedback from my stories. So, tune in next time for…Chapter IV: Ravens, Councils and Friends**


	4. Chapter IV: Of Raven and Friends

RWBY: The New King of Darkness

For every Queen, there is always a King, one that is the true undisputed ruler. Salem once had a King but betrayed him long ago for his power by placing a powerful curse on him. But before he was banished from her side, the King swore his vengeance, that a successor will take his place and cast her from the world of the living. But to do so, he would need a willing successor, someone willing to embrace the Darkness and forever forsake the Light. But who would be so willing to embrace the Darkness? And for what reason would he do so? This is The New King Darkness.

* * *

Chapter IV: Of Ravens and Friends

* * *

Two pairs of Red eyes stared at each other from across the camp, as Jaune Arc – the New King of Darkness – And Raven – The Bandit Queen – glared at each other. Blood still spilling down the stakes of the camp as everyone waited with baited breath for what would happen next.

Shay, however, looked absolutely terrified as the man who slaughtered all his men stood before them. "T-That's him! That's the man who killed all my men!" he said with a shaking finger pointed at him. Jaune glared as he shrieked in fright.

"We're all going to fucking die!" he screamed as he cowered at the sight of him.

Raven looked in disgust at the man as she wondered why she bothered leaving him in charge of the Shion Mission. It should have been simple; attack the settlement and leave before the Grimm appeared. Even without her there it should have been simple as she had more pressing matters to deal with. For starters, why Beacon didn't fall like she predicted it would. She was certain that the arrogance of Ozpin would lead the school to ruin.

She had even told Qrow that it would happen as a final courtesy for her brother.

Yet it didn't, the Grimm were driven back, and the City was still standing. She had to find out what happened and how it would affect her tribe. It was the only reason she didn't join in the Shion Raid herself, sending a carrier raven to Shay ordering him to begin the raid without her as she questioned her brother about what happened.

Though the only answer she got from her brother was that it was saved by a _monster_ in _human_ form?

She narrowed her eyes at the man as he glared back at her. Could he be what he was talking about? Was this the monster he warned her about?

In any case, he attacked her Tribe, and that was something she was not going to tolerate. "Who the hell are you?" she demanded as she stood upon her perch.

Jaune remained silent gripping his pistol tight as he stared at the masked woman. From the looks of it, she was the leader, if by the fact she was the only one brave enough to address him head on after that little display of his. She was also perched up higher than the rest of them on her platform, most likely to oversee the whole camp and because she was also the least afraid. That meant she had to deal with problems like him on a daily basis.

But she had never met anyone like him yet. And she was going to find that out that hard way.

Not liking being ignored, Raven gripped the handle of her sword as she took one step forward. "I'm asking you a question. Who the hell are-!"

"Are you the one leading these men?"

For the first time in her life, she flinched back as the man spoke with a hollow and empty voice. His red eyes glowing with a haunting allure as they stared into the depths of her own. Vernal too flinched back from the tone of his voice as it almost seemed to resonate with her soul. It was young but had the echoes of something ancient and powerful behind it. The influence of the Grimm Kings power echoed through his voice as the bloodlust from his earlier attack still coursed through his veins.

"I repeat, are you the ones leading these men, the ones that attacked Shion Village?" he asked again as Raven steeled her nerves as she glared at him.

"That's right, I am Raven Branwen, Leader of this Tribe. Now answer my question, who the hell are you and why did you attack my men?" Jaune glared as he summoned his sword. Raven took a step back as she saw the blade materialise out of the shadow.

"My name doesn't matter, what does matter to me is why you attacked a place I hold dear to me? A place that is nothing but innocent and kin. Yet your men killed and butchered innocent people…and I will not stand for that" he raised his blade as he held it diagonally across his body.

"So, you better give a _damn good reason_ why I shouldn't just kill every one of you right here and now! Because I won't show any mercy to criminals and scum like you!" he yelled as his red eyes flashed and showered all with fear.

Raven herself had to step back at the insanely large amount of killer intent that rolled off the young man's body. But she held firm as she glared at the intruder.

"And what business is it of yours that we attacked that village? Villages get raided by bandits on a daily basis. Their supplies would have been put to better use with us, then it would have with them. What's so special about one small village that would have been attacked anyway?"

Jaune glared at the masked woman as the powers of the King surged through his veins.

"That village was _special_ to me, it was a place my family used to cherish for as long as I could remember. They were _good_ people, _kind_ people. People who hadn't done anything wrong and would always welcome you with open arms…but then you and your men burnt it to the ground and murdered all those innocent people, and for what? Supplies, resources?!" a surge of dark aura slipped from his body as the negative energy started to leak into the air.

Many of the tribesmen stepped back as the dark wisps of aura seeped into the air. Its shape twisting and slithering unnaturally as it brought nothing but coldness and dread. Jaune ceased the aura as he looked almost saddened at using his power.

"I don't want to kill you, I gave your men that option before and they paid the price for their arrogance…" the blood on his hands still fresh even as he felt it slowly squirm into his skin. "But I'm giving it to you all now. Leave the village and its people alone, or I will have no choice but to kill every single one of you…it's your choice." he glared one last time at Raven, hoping that she would not make a rash decision.

Raven thought she knew everything about the secret war between Ozpin and his rival Salem. She knew about the Maidens of the Seasons, the Relics that hid under each of the schools in Remnant and even knew of the existence of Magic.

But this…this was like nothing she had ever seen before.

Was this something else that Ozpin managed to hide from them? Did Salem somehow figure out her true identity and sent this 'creature' after her? Or was this something neither of them had foreseen? She felt in her gut that if she faced this… _person_ …she may lose her very life against him.

But as chief of the Tribe, she could not allow fear to take hold of her. She had to stand strong for her people, otherwise, they would flee in a heartbeat and the Tribe she had worked so hard to gain control of would disappear into the four winds. She had to stand firm and face this _monster_ if she wanted any hope of keeping the tribe alive.

She needed to kill him before he had a chance to wipe them out.

She gripped her sword as she subtly nodded to Vernal. Who nodded and drew forth her own weapons. Every bandit – while still nervous – drew their weapons as they surrounded the boy. Jaune looked around his gripped his blade and the pistol as they circled him. He hung his head as the sounds of guns cocking resonated in the camp as he gritted his teeth.

"…I gave you a choice…"

And just like that, the sounds of battle raged in the forest as the bandits attacked the dark-haired boy. His form moving faster than they could predict as he ducked and weaved past the blades and bullets. All while hacking and slashing any that stood in his way, sending many body parts flying away and leaving the owners screaming in pain.

Raven shifted her katana mechanism until a red blade was selected as she drew the extended blade and charged at the stranger. Blackened blade clashed with red as a small shockwave blasted across the camp. Red eyes glared at each other as the King of Darkness battled with the Bandit Queen.

Their bodies moved with rapid speed as small chips of dust and metal flew in the air. But unlike the woman he fought at Beacon and the bandits in Shion Village, this person was skilled – extremely skilled. The movement of her body, despite his enhanced senses, was faster than Cinder was as he could barely track her as she dashed around him at blinding speeds.

He instantly felt the presence of another, as the younger girl that stood beside her swung her circular blades at the boy as the one on one fight with Raven, had just become a two against one brawl. Jaune dodged as fire and lighting dust sailed past him, while a red blade slashed at his head.

But he blocked and evaded his attacks as he slowly allowed the bloodlust to influence his movements. Allowing him to react quicker, strike harder and keep himself from losing his head.

Annoyed of Vernal, however, he aimed his pistol and shot several bullets at her. Causing her to jump back as the dark infused projectiles skimmed past her aura and caused her to bleed. This instantly raised her fear as the dark aura bypassed her natural defences and actually harmed her.

"Raven, be careful! His attacks seem to bypass our aura!"

"I noticed!" she growled as she had already witnessed his attacks brutally harm her men. Stray bullets ripping through their guts as they cried out in pain.

This boy clearly more dangerous then she imagined but seemed to lack higher skills in combat. But the strength she felt behind each blow was strong enough to easily decapitate her if she wasn't careful. She knew that she should use the Spring Maiden. But they could not risk being discovered by Salem's forces or the Grimm that would no doubt come through the camp once the battle was over.

She needed to end this, now.

Switching blades with gravity dust, she charged again as she slashed her dark purple blade against his as the gravity effects forced the new King back. Jaune growled in annoyance at this as he blocked and evaded his blades. He managed to switch the weapons to his opposite hands and forced her to back off with several shots that nearly hit her. Two members of the Tribe jumped from behind him as they managed to lodge two small axes into his back.

He growled out in rage before he spun around and unloaded several more shots, they – unlike Raven – did not get the chance to evade, as they were ripped to shreds from the dark infused rounds. Blood splashing onto the dirt as one by one the Branwen Tribe was being decimated. Stray fire dust began to set the camp ablaze as everything Raven had worked so hard to gain was going up in smoke.

Literally.

Raven charged again determined to end the boy once and for all, as she slashed the air and opened up a portal and disappeared into the red swirl. The thing about her semblance was that she could open up a portal to those she had bonded with. She had one for her brother, one for her former husband and one for her daughter. But she also had several portals for key members of her clan – such as Vernal – and she was not limited to the range of the person and where she could make the portals appear.

For example, because of the members she had on the camp, she could make portals appear in mid-air horizontally or otherwise. Which she used to reappear behind him and slash at his back, causing the new King to roar in pain before disappearing into another portal. Only to reappear again and slash again and disappearing.

Jaune growled as more and more of the bloodlust took over. Finding it more difficult to hit the teleporting woman amongst the haze of red.

Not to mention she had that girl shooting at him with those damn blades of hers. The bandits that attacked the village were weak, and unorganised thanks to their cowardice leader – who was desperately hiding behind one of the tents. While this leader was more focused, battle-hardened and was not wasting a single chance to give him the advantage.

"She's good…very good…you may actually have some trouble with this one," The former King spoke into his ear as he glared mentally at the aberration.

' _A little help would be nice?!'_ Jaune growled to his subconscious as the King shrugged.

"What can I do? I'm not even real," Jaune growled and roared in pain as she slashed again and dismembered his arm. Blood flying out of his body as he stumbled back in pain while grasping the stump of his arm. "Ouch, that had to hurt".

Jaune merely glared as he held his arm. This woman was clearly strong, stronger then the woman he faced five months ago. While he had only just reawakened after five months and was only learning the basics of his power. There was no way he was going to win this in a fair fight…so he needed to fight differently.

A plan formed in his head as the Former King stared at him.

"I know what you're thinking and that's crazy…even by my standards,"

' _Not like I have much of a choice…'_ he told the King as he nodded.

"Fair enough, just don't die. I still need you complete our goal," Jaune nodded as he gripped his sword in his left hand and attacked the woman again.

Raven wasting no time clashed blades with him again, as fragments of dust chipped off her blade. The blade cracking before shattering and the black blade whistling towards. Her body instinctively jumping back as the blade only managed to scratch a small section of her mask as she glared at the human/Grimm Hybrid.

' _What the hell is he? He doesn't have a protective shielding from Aura and he seems to shrug off serious injuries like they are nothing. They hurt him, but it's like they're only just getting in the way.'_ She glared at his sword as the blade in his hand as it radiated with a black and red energy.

' _And he's using a strange power that's easily ripping apart my men. That power could be useful…but too dangerous right now. I need to take this…_ _ **thing**_ _…out before I lose any more of the camp…I have no choice, we have to use Spring,'_ she glared as she gripped her sword.

"Vernal! Get ready! It's time to use _it_ " she ordered as the young maiden looked shocked.

"B-but Raven, if we use it then-!"

"I know! But we have no choice! get ready!" she ordered as the young girl nodded and sheathed both her weapons. Jaune's attention was instantly drawn to her as the wind suddenly began to pick up. The fires slowly being sucked into the wind as the sound of thunder and lightning sparked across the sky.

"That power…" The King said as he looked at the sky. "So, they have one of _them_ amongst them…" he glared as he looked at the last two women in the camp. "Interesting" he spoked as Vernal glared and thrust her arms forward.

A bolt of lightning sailed from the sky and raced towards Jaune, who instantly summoned his shield – changed as well to a backend version of itself – as the bolt of lightning struck against its steel. He held firm as the energy blast sent him skidding back with his feet still planted into the ground causing a trench. The blast subsided as the young woman looked exhausted while Jaune was shocked.

"That power…that was like-!"

He never got to finish as Raven appeared behind him with her blade drawn back and racing towards his head. With little time she swung the blade and cleaved his head clean from his body. His heading flying through the air as the dark aura subsided and his body collapsed to the ground.

The camp was silent as those that survived stared in shock at the boy while also relieved that they managed to survive. Shay – who had hidden during the battle – looked on with awe and satisfaction at seeing the man that took his men and his arm lying dead before their feet.

"Raven, are you alright?" Vernal asked as the woman breathed heavily while staring at the corpse.

Raven felt exhausted as she carefully eyed the beheaded corpse before sheathing her blade. "I'm okay. But we have a lot of work to do before the Grimm arrives. This place is no longer safe, we need to pack up and move before-!"

 **Bang**!

All that came to a halt as numerous eyes opened wide as the sound of a gunshot echoed through the camp. Vernal had a look of horror. Shay looked like he had just shit himself and Raven stared with horrified eyes as her own left arm was flying away from her. Her weapon shattered into pieces as the bullet ripped through her sheath mechanism and took her arm with her.

"RAVEN!" Vernal cried out as the woman fell to the ground in pain.

All eyes turned to the body as it held the gun in its severed left arm. A thin trail of dark-red aura seeping from the stump leading back to the body, as it slowly began to rise without its head. A thin trail slithered from its neck before grabbing the detached head and dragging it back to the body before fusing back into place.

Red eyes flashed as the new King of Darkness stood before the frightened clan.

The Former King grinned as he looked at the terrified faces of the clan. "You _let her_ cut your head off, knowing full well that it would fuse back on. Allowing her to think she killed you. Not too bad, boy"

Jaune ignored him as he stood before the terrified tribe. Blood red and dark aura radiating around him as the blood on the ground slowly began to move. Twisting and snaking along the dirt as it crawled into the young man's body. The wounds that he sustained against the Tribe healing at a rapid pace as soon only pale undamaged skin was left.

The rest of the bandits looked on in fear at the man before them, while the armless leader of the grunted and glared in pain.

Jaune looked back at her as he glared. "I warned you…I warned all of you…I gave you the choice to leave…But you didn't listen…this is on you…"

Vernal glared as she roared and charged at the man. "No, Vernal!" Raven called out as the teen charged and shot at the boy. Only for the rounds to pass harmlessly through his flesh. She swung her blades, hoping to kill him only to gasp in shock as he caught her arms before headbutting her.

He then threw her away as she crashed into one of the tents, impaling her on a pike as she screamed in pain. Shay quickly scampered away as he quietly tried to run from the monster that killed his men and clan. But he didn't care about the last two as he turned his attention to Raven as she started to feel fear at the man – no, the monster – that stood before her.

He started walking towards her as the bandit leader held her what remained of her blade as she attempted to summon what strength she had left. Only to feel a hand grasped around her throat and her back hitting against the wood of her own walls. She struggled against his grasp as the new King stared at the woman.

"…How does it feel? To be helpless and weak? To be attacked in your own home by something stronger than you? This is how the people of Shion felt when you ordered your men to attack. When they killed and butchered their families, their friends and everyone they ever loved. They did nothing wrong to you and you still attacked them," he spoke with anger in his voice as he tightened his grip.

"I'll be doing the world a favour by wiping your clan from the face of the earth. No more innocent people will be harmed by the likes of you, who think that weak must perish for the strong to survive. Well…" he gripped tighter as Raven gasped in pain.

"I'm the strong one here. How does it feel to be the weak one?"

Raven could barely keep herself conscious or focus any of her Aura as the New King continued to hold her throat. Cutting off her airway to weaken her – but allowing just enough to let her remain conscious – as she struggled to stay awake. She looked over to the remaining forces of her clan as she hoped that anyone of them would use this chance to save her…

Instead, she saw fear in their eyes as they slowly backed away from the creature that had her in a vice.

They dropped their weapons and turned their backs on her as they attempted to leave the camp alive. She felt betrayal at this as she thought they were her family. That they would for a moment forget the rule of the Clan and save her. But instead like cowards, they ran, thinking of themselves rather others.

But then again, that was the way of her Tribe. Survival of the Fittest. The Weak Perished and the Strong Survive.

Yet all they got were bullets in their backs as Jaune, without looking back, pointed his gun and shot the fleeing men in the back. Their bodies hitting the dirt as now nearly everyone in the camp was dead. Save for her.

She looked at the man as he glared with powerful red eyes. "If there is one thing I hate more in this world it's _cowards_ and people who turn their backs on their friends…but then again, is there really such a thing as _friends among bandits_?" he asked.

"The last of your clan just tried to leave you behind. They left you to die, where the people I knew would have done anything in their power to save them…I know I did" he looked down as he thought about his friends. He shook his head as he reached for her mask. Unbeknownst to him, a struggling Vernal reached for her weapon as she gasped in pain with each breath.

"Before I kill you I want to see the face of the woman who tried to burn down my fondest memory. I want to see the kind of person who is willing to kill innocent children just to survive…I want to see what kind of person you really are." He grabbed the mask as he tore it off her face, revealing her face to the world.

His eyes widened as he stared face to face with Raven Branwen. Former Teammate of Team STRQ, partner to Summer Rose and current Leader of the Branwen Tribe. But all Jaune saw was a somewhat familiar face…

"Yang?" her own eyes widened at the name as she stared at the creature that knew her daughter.

Before any questions could be asked an electric shot struck Jaune in the back as he dropped the woman to the floor. He instantly turned and glared with blood red eyes as Vernal looked up weakly at the King, her weapon still smoking before she succumbed to her wounds.

Jaune growled before he felt a sudden surge of power behind him as he turned just in time to see red flames billowing from Raven's eyes as she summoned a powerful bolt of lightning and struck him in the chest. Sending him flying far away and into the furthest parts of the camp. She gasped and breathed in pain as she held her bleeding arm feeling the last flickers of her aura dwindling within her.

She was badly wounded and doubted she had killed the creature. Already she could see piles of her own men's blood – and her own severed arm – flowing towards him as he began to regenerate from the blast. She cursed as she looked around at all of her dead clansmen, her decoy and her camp as all of it was in ruins.

Killed by the man that lay before her.

But she was too weak to get revenge on him, nor did she think she had a chance after seeing that kind of power. To her vengeance was a fool's game which only leads to a quicker death. She needed to get away from him far away from where he wouldn't find her. But all of her Clansmen bonds were dead – as she had called back all of her men after the failure of the Beacon Invasion; something she was sure would have succeeded.

The only ones she had left…were complicated. But for her own survival, she didn't have much choice.

Calling upon the last of her strength she sliced the air in front of her as a red portal appeared, unstable and glitching, but strong enough to get her where she needed to go. She just hoped she would have to hear her brother telling her he told her so.

She then jumped into the portal as she disappeared off the continent of Anima just as Jaune finished regenerating his damaged chest. He breathed in the new air as he looked at the disappearing woman too stunned to stop her as he stared at empty space.

"That woman, she looked just like Yang. But there's no way that was Yang. Who the hell was she?" the former king manifested beside him.

"If I had to guess I would say it was her mother, given the taste of her blood from that arm we absorbed. The taste of her blood is older than your friend and there is a distinct taste of once baring a child. Very interesting," he said as Jaune looked to the spectre.

"But what the hell is Yang's mother doing with bandits? And why the hell did she have the Same powers as Cinder?"

"It would appear that she is the current Spring Maiden and must have inherited the powers from the previous one; who meant much to her…or was just on her mind before she died." Jaune narrowed his eyes as parts of Cinder's remaining memories informed him of the Maidens. Women of extraordinary power that are nearly unrivalled in strength and not limited by Dust.

"That still doesn't explain why she's with Bandits," The King shrugged his shoulders.

"Who knows the reason why you humans act the way you do. It's not our place to judge anyway. You succeeded in your mission and killed nearly all the bandits." He looked around at the smouldering flames and mutilated bodies as they had all been drained of their blood.

"But it will be a short victory," he looked back as the King looked to the forest.

"From the looks of it, this Clan was probably one of the largest and most feared among the other bandit tribes. When news of their destruction gets out there will be a struggle between the other clans: Villages will be plundered, and many innocents lives will be lost trying to claim their territory." Jaune looked around as what he said rang true.

"What do we do to stop it?" The Grimm King looked at the boy as a cold look appeared in his eyes.

"Bandits are superstitious and a cowardly lot. Back in my time, I used to scare humans by leaving a warning to them. That I was unbeatable and that any who tried would be foolish to do so…" Jaune didn't like where he was going with this as he had a sickening feeling in his stomach.

"How did you do that?" he pointed to the bodies around them.

"I left them a message…one they would _never_ forget."

Jaune instantly realised what he meant as he looked around before nodding. He reached over and grabbed their corpses and started to get to work.

"When you're done I would raid what's left of their stuff and see what you can find." The King informed him. "Their clothes are worthless as many of them won't fit you and they smell like they haven't bathed in weeks. I may be dead, but I can still smell through your senses. _Disgusting_. But anything of value like cash and supplies would be helpful to our cause. Besides…" he smirked as he began to fade away.

"It's not like they're going to need it anymore?"

Jaune glared as he grabbed the bodies and began what he needed to scare the other tribes. He knew that he was doing would be wrong; desecrating a corpse like what he intended to do. But his action would eventually have consequences; and he had probably put many more lives at risk, which that was something he could not bear to shoulder on his conscious. Not with what already lay bare upon him. This was something he needed to do and hoped that he would never get used to it…

Sadly… there would be many more times he would have to do this…Forever earning him a title he would curse to this day.

* * *

Island of Patch – Xiao Long/Rose Homestead

* * *

Pyrrha stared numbly out the window as she stared out at the new leaves of spring. She watched as they slowly rustled against the wind as she and all her friends remained seated in the cosy little cottage. It had been five months since the invasion of Beacon; since they had seen their friends be mutilated and their homes destroyed.

Five Months since Weiss was dragged away back to Atlas. Five months since Blake ran away to places unknown. Five Months since Yang closed herself from the rest of the world. And Five months since they had seen heads or tails of their wayward leader as he had disappeared shortly after the battle.

It had been a gigantic mess after the invasion; The Atlas forces were in complete disarray as many of the citizens of Vale tired their best to avoid them as they blamed them for the incident with the Atlesian Knights. The White Fang had gone underground with rumours of infighting begin to emerge from the group. And Ozpin had been declared K.I.A. after a team of Atlas soldiers found the remains of a severely burnt skeleton in the Vault under Beacon.

D.N.A testing proved it to be that of the Headmaster – Ozpin. A devastating blow to the teaching staff and Council of Vale.

Recently the Council had placed the full blame of the invasion on the White Fang itself which only cause more tensions between humans and Faunus. The Main White Fang branch denied the allegations of knowing about the invasion as they had lost all contact with the Vale Branch months before and after the attack. Meanwhile, Adam's branch took full credit for the attack and managed to inspire the more blood hungry members of the White Fang to stand with him.

It was all coming to a mess.

The only positive thing that had come out of it however as that Beacon had no fallen and could be repaired; which allowed the Atlas tech supports to re-establish the CCT Network. However, Jaune's display of brutality against Cinder and the Atlas Soldiers had managed to leak onto the net as the Council had called a bounty for the boy's head.

Thinking that he had something to do with the attack as Cinder was still registered as a student of Haven.

Pyrrha knew the truth however as she was there when the invasion started and talked with the remnants of Ozpin's inner circle. She had brief them of the events as she had encountered the Fall Maidens attack and the true identity of Cinder. She even recounted the brief moments she had with Jaune before he became…whatever it was he is.

However, because the inner circle worked under the radar they could not bring this evidence to the council. It raised more question and then answers.

For example, The Council would ask why a person of that power was hidden under the school? Why was information like this withheld from them and did Ozpin know of the attack and if so, why did he do nothing to prevent it? Which also would make them wonder what other secrets Ozpin had hidden from them. So, the Inner circle decided to hold their tongues and work from the shadows like they always did and let the council do what they needed to do.

One of which was placed a bounty on the boy's head for the _Murder_ of Atlas personal.

This did not sit well with Pyrrha as she asked the inner circle to help her track him down and help him, cure him of whatever was afflicting him. But the recent events had made them scared. They had never seen anything like the young Arc before and had no idea how to proceed without Ozpin. Heck, they still didn't even have an idea what he was or what he had become.

So, they opted to keep the bounty on his head until otherwise.

She could still remember that day, the day she decided she wanted nothing to do with the inner circle.

* * *

Four Months Ago – After the Battle of Beacon

* * *

In one of the reconstructed hospitals in the city of Vale, the inner circle of Ozpin's allies gathered to piece together the events that had transpired that day. Pyrrha was amongst them as she had to relay what she saw of Ozpin, the False Maiden and Jaune. She told them everything of what she knew.

The identity of the False Maiden, the events that lead to her sending her partner away to the moment he came back changed and powerful.

That last part was still a mystery to her as she wondered what had happened in the time she sent him away and the moments where she almost lost against Cinder.

She knew what Jaune was like, or what he used to be like, and she knew that he had to have done something reckless in order to save her. It was the only logical explanation, but what? What had he done to gain those powers? What bargain or deal did he make to move like the shadows, to turn into a swarm of bats and snap the head of a Grimm Dragon with a twist of his arm?

What he had become was something frightening and it terrified the world. If what she had heard recently was anything to go on.

She had learned that the Vale and Atlas Council had placed a bounty on the boy's head; due to him killing Atlas Soldiers during the battle, despite him saving everyone from the invasion.

It had come a month after the Atlas Technicians managed to repair the CCT Network and Footage had leaked out of Jaune losing control of his new powers as he killed the Atlas soldiers and drained them of their blood.

The Atlas Council wanted retribution for the deaths of their men, despite the fact they had attacked him first and caused him to lose control in the first place. All they cared about was getting revenge on the boy and maybe discover the secrets of his Aura Negating abilities.

Pyrrha was terrified when she heard this as it meant that now her partner, her crush, the boy who saw her as an individual was now a wanted criminal. Or worse a possible test subject for the Atlas Science Division. They would want to tear him open and take him apart piece by piece until they learned everything about him.

Despite the fact that if it wasn't for him Vale would have Fallen to the Grimm or Gods know who else.

She needed to do something about it, she needed to find him and save him from himself. She was hoping that those in Ozpin's inner circle could help her. She believed that they may know something about what had happened to Jaune and would even help find and clear up

However, things were not going the way Pyrrha had expected them to.

"What do you mean you aren't going to do anything?!" her voice loud and shocked as she stared at the gathered adults.

"You have to understand, Miss Nikos, that boy is no longer the same Jaune Arc you knew. He is…something we have never seen before," Glynda Goodwitch said as she and the other members stood by her. "He butchered and killed those men and would have done so for the rest of us, if not for Miss Rose."

Qrow looked away at the mention of his niece and her silver powers.

"But that wasn't his fault! Those men shot at him first, after he saved everyone from the Grimm! If they hadn't shot at him he might have stood down!" Pyrrha argued as Ironwood shook his head.

"Who shot first doesn't matter. What does matter is that boy has clearly become a part of something that is far darker than anything we have ever seen before. If he were to join forces with Salem, or Gods forbid be captured by her. She could wipe us out in an instant. He needs to be stopped, for all our sakes." Ironwood stated as Pyrrha stared in shock.

"How can you say that?! He fought against Cinder, one of her allies! He's on our side! If he was part of Salem's group, then why did he kill her!? Didn't you say that she wanted the Maidens power to take over the world?! He stopped that from happening." She argued as Goodwitch shook her head.

"The Maidens are just a stepping stone with what she truly wants, but that is beside the point," Goodwitch said as she grew curoous at this before Ironwood stood forward.

"If he was on our side then why didn't he stop himself from killing my men? Why didn't he just surrender after stopping the False Maiden? Why did he run after being weakened by Miss Rose? If he truly was on our side Miss Nikos, then he would have stayed and faced the consequences of his actions. Instead, he ran, like a criminal." He asked as the girl shook her head.

"We didn't give him much choice! You saw the look on his face when we looked at him with fear. You heard what he said before he left? He was ashamed, horrified of what he did. He left because he thought that we would treat him like a monster for what he did to save us. He ran away because he thought he had no other choice. He left because of our fear…he ran because of us," she hung her head as she still remembered the heartbroken expression on his face before he disappeared.

A sight that haunted her to this day.

"It still doesn't change the fact that the kid is dangerous." Qrow finally spoke as he had remained silent through the whole deal.

"He killed, there's no getting around that fact. Not only that but he must have come into contact with something very dangerous in order to get those kinds of powers. We don't know what side he is on or if he is still the same kid you knew from before. Because from where I stood he was willing to kill me." He rubbed his neck as he remembered looking up at the boy that was shrouded in darkness and malice.

"For now, it's best that the Bounty stays on his head. That way if someone spots him we can intervene and decide what to do based on his action. If he doesn't fight back we'll take him in. If he does…that we'll have no choice but to take him down." Qrow suggested as Pyrrha could only look at them with shocked betrayal.

"So, that's it, you're just going to hunt down like an animal?! Kill him like you would do with any other Grimm?! He's a human being!"

"We've all had to kill at some point, Miss Nikos. Grimm is not the only enemies out there. There are those like Cinder, like that boy now, that could bring potential disaster to the safety of the Four Kingdoms. It is why we operate as we do. To keep the world safe, we have to do things that we are not proud of. That's what we signed up for…it's what we have to do. There's no other way." Ironwood lamented as Pyrrha looked down as her fist gripped tightly around her blanket.

"I…I can't believe this…I can't believe you would actually hunt down the person that saved our lives. That you would hunt down a person who only did what he thought must be done to save us…to save me. When I was going to do the same," She shook as small bits of metal began to creak. Hurt and betrayal evident in her voice as the adults looked at her.

"I thought…I thought that if I joined you, became your Fall Maiden I'd be making this world a better place. That I would be doing good with those powers and keep my friends safe. But what has it gotten me? A severed Achilles heel, scorn and ridicule for Penny's death and my own partner…my best friend… lost to some dark force that you lot don't even have a clue about?!" she gritted her teeth as her anger began to boil.

"Yet with it, he did more in one day then what you've managed in years! And what does it get for it?! Fear, hate and a price on his head because he defended himself from those that shot at him! What kind of world are you protecting if you make choice like that?!" she screamed as she looked up at them in anger.

"Because of you, my partner, my best friend is on the run and I may never see him again! He's gone because I thought I had to make up for my mistake for not taking the Fall Maidens power! I should have never listened to you when you talked about the Maidens! I should have never trusted you when you told me all about Salem and the Grimm! I should have just run when Jaune asked me to! If I had h-he might not have!" she stopped as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"Get out…" she said with a low voice before she snapped her head at them.

"Get out! I never want to see any of you again! I don't want to have anything to do with you or your secrets anymore! You've cost me everything! Just leave!" she screamed as the adults looked in shock before the solemnly nodded and left the girl alone.

When they were gone she collapsed into her bed as she softly cried at the thought of her partner and her mistake for listening to Ozpin. She clutched her pillow as she hoped and prayed that someday she would make up for what her choices had done to her partner. And hoped that she could save him.

No matter what he had become.

* * *

Present Day

* * *

After that, she opted to stay with Ruby on Patch while she recovered as she had no intention of going back to Mistral and face the scorn of her parents. The long phone call she had with them created a tear between them as they wanted her to return home to continue her duellist career. To endorse and make money for the family and to forget about her partner – who they now saw as a wanted criminal.

She effectively destroyed the phone after that comment.

But honestly, she didn't care anymore about what people thought of her. All she cared about was finding Jaune and undoing the damage she had caused to him.

Ren and Nora stayed with the Xiao/Rose family as well, seeing as they had nowhere else to go, and wanted to find their friend too.

At first, they were scared of Jaune had become fearing that he had become a monster with no morals whatsoever. But after being recounted on the look of guilt on his face when he left and a tear-filled confession about what happened at the tower, which Pyrrha broke down into tears blaming herself for what happened, they instantly wanted to help her and find their leader.

Ruby wanted to come along too, but when Yang found out what had happened with the soldiers, the older teen basically forbade her sister from going after him.

Their father agreed after seeing the footage. The sisters had argued constantly about whether or no Jaune was even human any more – or if he was even Jaune – as Yang was scared that Jaune might hurt Ruby. Pyrrha tried to help Ruby convince Yang but the girl just wouldn't budge, saying that she was not going to let her sister get hurt.

However, Ruby argued that she was only acting this way because she lost her arm and that Blake ran away. Yang had almost hit her sister after that comment. But the point still stood between them. Something had happened to Jaune, and they had no idea what they were dealing with.

"We need to go look for him, sis! He's our friend!"

"He _was_ your friend Ruby! But that thing I saw on the video was anything but Vomit-boy! You saw what he did to those soldiers, to that woman! How can you be so sure that he's not going to kill you like he did them?! Or did you forget what he tried to do to Uncle Qrow?!" She turned her head to see the two sisters going at it again.

This was the fourth time this week that Ruby wanted to go out and search for Jaune. Pyrrha, Ren and Nora were ready to go. But Yang was being stubborn, and Ruby was having a hard time trying to get away from her sister or get some sense through her head.

"Because he's Jaune! Whatever happened to him doesn't change the fact he's still the same guy we knew back at Beacon!" Yang clenched her remaining fist.

"You don't know what people are truly like," her mind going back to Blake as she still felt angry and betrayed of her partner's disappearance. Ruby sighed as she hung her head.

"Yang, I know you're still hurt about everything that's happened to you. But we need to find him, he's out their all alone with people going to be after his head. If we don't find him first, try to reason with him, he could wind up dead!" she stressed as Yang shook her head.

"You saw what he could do, I highly doubt a bunch of Bounty Hunters are going to be able to stop him. I mean for God's sake his head was detached from his body! His head! If that doesn't kill him nothing will," she walked away from her as Ruby sighed in defeat.

She slumped over to Pyrrha as she sat on the window sill next to her. Her head resting on the wood as she looked to the former Champion. "You don't have to wait for me you know? You can go without me, it'll just take a while to get through Yang's stubbornness." Pyrrha shook her head at this.

"No, we agreed we would all go look for Jaune. We're not leaving without you." She reassured the young girl as she nodded

"Besides…" they looked over at Ren as he and Nora walked into the room "We don't even know where to look for him. For all, we know he could on an entirely different continent by now. If we want to find him, we need somewhere to start and not just go on a wild goose chase."

"I have to agree with Magenta boy there," they turned as Pyrrha glared at Qrow as he walked into the room. "Going after him without a clear direction is a recipe for disaster. Sometimes you need to be patient before you can act." Pyrrha scoffed at this.

"Like I'm going to take any advice from _you_. You'll probably just turn on us the moment you find out where Jaune is. And I thought I made it clear that I didn't want to see you again," she said as she turned away from the man. Ruby looking sad as she had only gotten a brief understanding of what happened between Pyrrha and her uncle.

The Veteran huntsman sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Look I know you're still pissed at us for what happened, and I don't blame you. But I'm not talking to you as part of Ozpin's group, I'm talking to you as an experienced Huntsman and you need to listen to what I have to say." She glanced back but the glare was still present.

"The kid has a five-month head start on you. He could be Vacuo, Anima or even Solitas for all we know. But not only that he has powers that none of us has seen before. You have no idea what could have happened to him in the last months. He might not even be the same kid you knew. Power has a way of corrupting people, I've seen it." No one responded as he looked away.

"And what are you going to do if you somehow manage to find him? How are you going to convince him to come back? He's wanted by the Kingdoms of Atlas and Vale, there's no way they are going to forget what he did to those soldiers."

"We'll find a way, maybe we hide him somewhere or prove that he's not as dangerous as everyone thinks he is?" Nora suggested as Qrow shook his head.

"And how long do you think it'll take before the other Kingdoms track him down? He may have hidden well for now, but no one stays hidden forever. Trust me I know. And I highly doubt you'll manage to convince anyone that he isn't dangerous. Not after what they saw." He told them as they registered what the man was saying.

"Look, all I'm saying is that you need a better plan than just walking off into the sunset and expecting to bump into him." He then scoffed as he pointed to the able. "What do you expect, a sign is just going to magically come from the sky?"

Instantly a red portal opened up as a figure came crashing down into the table, shocking everyone as an armless woman lay face down on the broken table. Everyone stared in stunned silence as they stared at the woman when Yang and Tai suddenly ran into the room as soon as they heard the noise.

"What the hell is going-Raven?!" he yelled in shock as he and Yang stared wide-eyed at the woman laying on the floor. Tai and Qrow instantly by her side as Yang could only stare in stunned silence at the armless woman before her.

"Raven!" Qrow managed to call out as he ran over to her while the teens stared in shock.

Tai turned her over as she grunted in pain while blood still leaked from her stump. "Raven! Raven, it's me! Tai! What the hell happened to you?!" he asked his former wife as she looked up weakly at the two members of her former team.

"Tai…" she said with a weak voice as she looked almost pleading with him. "Help" was all she said before she passed out.

Everyone stared in silence as they tried to register what the hell just happened. Three of them were shocked the most however as two of them had never heard the woman ask for help before, while the last one could only stare at the one who abandoned her years ago. But the main question on everyone's mind was this…

What the hell happened to her?

* * *

Back in the Branwen Camp

* * *

Jaune placed the last of the pikes into the ground as he looked up at his work. A sick feeling in his stomach as he looked at the unnerving scene before him. "You sure this will work?" he asked as the spectre of the Former King appeared by his side.

"Positive, as soon as they see this and that mark on the wall, they will know not to mess with us." Jaune shook his head as she looked at what he had done and the symbol he had carved in blood.

"I still don't like it"

"Sometimes we don't have a choice at what we have to do. This is one of them if you want the bandits to stay away from the innocent. Now let's get going, we got what we needed, and you want to get these people to Takefu Village before more Grimm shows up. Not that it will matter in the end," he disappeared as Jaune was left with his thoughts as he looked back one last time and left the camp.

As we walked away the sound of vultures screeched in the air as the scavenger-like birds began to descend upon the camp. They really didn't care what they saw, all that mattered to them was that there was meat to scavenge and eat.

Had they been human…they would have been horrified at what they saw.

Bodies impaled on long staves and pikes were spread amongst the camp, as the blood of every member of the Branwen Tribe drained into the dirt. Their corpses strung up and displayed in a grizzly manner. Looks of pain etched on their faces as the staves and pikes held them up for all to see.

But carved roughly into the back of the Camp was the Arc Symbol carved upside down with a red slit eye and a sword impaled through the centre. This would become his symbol in the years to come. The Mark of the man who did this and many more horrifying acts of cruelty to the wicked and evil of the world.

This was the Mark of the New King of Darkness…the Impaler of Wicked Men…and the Slayer of Dragons.

* * *

 **And Scene. Well here is Chapter IV of The New King of Darkness. Sorry for the long wait, been very busy. Work, Uni and all that. I hoped you all liked it and tell me what you think. I would like to thank FF8Cerberus for some advice and critic for the story and hope you all enjoyed it.**

 **I wanted to make some similarities to Dracula, Alucard and Gabriel Belmont from the respective series but Jaune hesitant to do so. But seeing no other choice.**

 **Also, I wanted to cause a rift between Pyrrha and Ozpin's group if she was alive and survived Beacon. She would be anger at them and probably would never want to speak to them again. Plus I never like that Ozpin put her in that situation. Something I will probably address in a later chapter when Oscar/Ozpin and Qrow meet with Jaune as he asks them a Question that has been on my mind for a while.  
**

 **But I won't spoil. And stay tuned for…**

 **Chapter V: Temple of Raging Fire**


	5. Chapter V: What Lurks in the Shadows

RWBY: The New King of Darkness

For every Queen, there is always a King, one that is the true undisputed ruler. Salem once had a King but betrayed him long ago for his power by placing a powerful curse on him. But before he was banished from her side, the King swore his vengeance, that a successor will take his place and cast her from the world of the living. But to do so, he would need a willing successor, someone willing to embrace the Darkness and forever forsake the Light. But who would be so willing to embrace the Darkness? And for what reason would he do so? This is The New King Darkness.

 **A/N Sorry for the misleading title for this chapter, but I realised I need a full chapter for the Temple of Fire. So, this chapter focuses more on Jaune growing power, his place in this world as the New King of Darkness and how he will use these powers. As well as seeing how his presence has affected Salem.**

* * *

Chapter V: What Lurks in the Shadows

* * *

Takefu Village – a village located roughly two day's travel from Shion Village and famous for its small but well-made craftsmanship. It was here that travelling Huntsman and Huntress would often stop and have their weapons and armour repaired. The village was small but a kind place as they – like Shion – welcomed travellers with open arms.

So, imagine their surprise when the remains of Shion came wandering into the village escorted by a bare-chested, jean-clad boy with dark hair and blood red eyes.

The surviving Huntsman explained to the mayor exactly what happened and how the boy before them saved the surviving villagers from both Bandits and Grimm. They left out the parts of Jaune's dark powers as they owed it to him to keep it a secret. In gratitude, the huntsman asked the mayor of the town for the boy to have some armour commissioned for him to replace his damaged and broken clothes.

However, there was a condition.

Recently there had been a Geist roaming around the village, killing any traveller that crossed its path and causing trouble for the town. So, a deal was stuck, Jaune would deal with the Grimm and the blacksmith would forge his new armour. Jaune agreed as he needed to get himself some new gear and he wanted to protect the village.

Which is where we currently find Jaune Arc now, as he was engaged with a battle with a gigantic stone monster. The Petra Gigas roared as its massive stone body shook the earth with each step and charged at the new King. It reeled its arm back to squish the boy, only for him to grab it within his hand and hold back the creature. Momentarily stunned, Jaune grinned as he punched the creature in the arm with full force and shattered the stone to pieces.

"Ha! Got ya!" he grinned only for the former King to appear beside him.

"Not exactly~"

From the body, along skeletal arm appeared from the stone and sunk itself into a tree. The stone creature pulling the wooden appendage from the earth as it now possessed a long arm made of wood. "Told ya, Geist's don't go down that easily. Especially when they are inhabiting an artificial body," the King said as the Petra Gigas swung the large arm.

"Yeah, now you tell me."

He jumped high above the swing, hovering briefly before unloading a couple of rounds into the creature's face only for its stone arm to block the projectiles and shield its bone like face. This did not go unnoticed by Jaune.

"It doesn't care about its body, only the face…so that's how it is," the Gigas roared as it swung a fist towards the new king, only for the boy vault over arm in mid-air and land on the forest clearing. He looked back at the creature.

"I see you've figured it out?" Jaune looked to the King as he nodded.

"It's doesn't care about its body, only the face, that's where the real thing is. I need to get rid of all its limbs and force it out before I can kill it…But I'm guessing you already knew that didn't you?" he accused the King as he grinned.

"Yeah, but you need to figure things out on your own. I can't hold your hand forever…not that I can anyway" he joked as Jaune growled. "Also, look out," Jaune blinked before a large fist slammed into him and sent him straight into a tree. The tree snapped in half as the New King slowly got up and groaned in annoyance before glaring at the spectre.

"…I told you to look out," he claimed as Jaune growled and charged at the beast.

The muscles in his body bulging as he summoned his dark aura into the rest of his body, amplifying his strength and speed. He ducked and weaved past the swinging limbs as he jumped and came face-to-face with the Grimm's chest. His arm bulged slightly as he swung his fist and exploded the Gigas' body.

Piles of rock and wood shattered onto the ground as the Petra Gigas crumbled into rubble. From the remains of the destroyed body came the ghostly figure of the Geist as it looked to the glaring boy and attempted to run away, only for a bullet to shatter its mask and end its existence. Its body turning into smoke as it slowly drifted into the air. However, this time Jaune noticed some of the smoke slither away from the Grimm and slithered into his skin.

"What the heck was that about?" he asked as the Former King appeared beside him.

"So, you've finally noticed. It's an ability you gained as the New King of Darkness. Whenever you kill a Grimm, you absorb a fraction of its being into yourself making you stronger and helping you recover your lost power quicker. Once you have killed enough Grimm a new ability will be returned to you. It works the same when you kill a human. But I'm guessing when you kill a human you will gain…other abilities." Jaune grew curious about this.

"New abilities, like what?" the King smirked as he shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know. Like I said you are the first being of Darkness that has ever possessed a soul. Your powers could be limitless, and I'm not even sure the full extent of what you can become." Jaune looked down at his hands as he gripped his fist.

"I noticed during the fight I wasn't as strong as I usually was. I still feel strong, but it feels weaker slightly, any idea about that?" the Grimm king looked to the sun as he pointed.

"It's the sun. the light is dampening your abilities slightly. Grimm have been mostly known to attack humans during the night, correct?" he asked as Jaune nodded. "That is because Grimm are born from Darkness, which means the Light is our natural enemy. The sun cannot kill us, but we prefer to fight at night when our strength is at its peak. You are basically the same. The Light will weaken you, but it cannot kill you. On the plus side, you awakened a new ability" Jaune raised an eyebrow.

"After absorbing that Geist, it seems that the shadow manipulation ability has returned. You can now merge yourself with the shadows and sneak your way into almost anywhere, give it a try. Just think of yourself becoming one with the shadows and you shall do so," he instructed as the boy looked at his hands and then the shadow.

He imagined himself sinking into the shadows. Becoming one with the darkness that sheltered those from the light and hid in the dark depths before slithering across the ground and resurfacing near the treeline of the forest.

"That was…odd, but kind of cool" he said as the Former King grinned.

"Glad you liked it. But we've wasted enough time here. We need to grab your gear and get out of here. Salem's head is still attached to her body and I would like to rectify it of that. And you wouldn't want to keep your little human friend waiting." He had told him before fading away with a grin.

Jaune glared as he knew he was talking about. The small girl he saved had taken a keen interest in him as she and the other children were curious of him. Whereas the adults still looked at him with suspicion. But the children seemed to like him as Integra spent most her time trying to get him to play with her or asked him many questions. He answered what he could and entertained them enough.

In the past, he was good with kids, mostly because had to help babysit some of the kids in his home villages. But now that he was the King of Darkness he was afraid that a simple touch from him would corrupt them. They were innocent after all, they had not seen the horrors he had done. Yet they still wanted to know of him, and asked if he was a super strong Huntsman…

Once he would have said he was…now…he just hoped they would never know what he truly was and fear him like so many would.

* * *

Later at the Forge

* * *

Currently, we find the New King sitting in the forge as he idly sketched on a piece of paper, a hobby he used to do before he came to Beacon. It used to be a way of distracting him from the problems he used to face with Cardin's bullying, and with all that happened he had little time to practise. His pencil etching into the paper as figures and shapes began to form into coherent images and faces. Long hair, grinning smiles and happy auras basking in peace as the boy sketched from memory.

He looked at his work as he smiled softly at the forming image, a peaceful memory of a time he doubted he could ever reclaim. "What are you doing?" a small voice asked as he turned to see Integra looking at him curiously. He folded the piece of paper as he set it aside.

"Drawing, just something I usually do when I'm bored."

"Can I have a look?" she asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"You're awfully invasive, aren't you?" he asked the girl as she nodded.

"Well you don't talk much, and you look like you were really happy drawing whatever it is you're drawing." She leaned over to see the picture only for the boy to grab it and keep it away. She then looked at him with large puppy dog eyes as she tried to trick him into showing her the drawing.

"Nice try, but I grew up with seven sisters, I am immune to puppy dog eyes." He drawled as the small girl pouted and crossed her arms while looking away. Jaune almost chuckled at this as he was reminded of his sisters when they failed to get him to do something for them.

…Which then brought him back to his current situation and what his family would think of him.

The black and red aura circulated around his fingers as he practised manipulating the dark aura. What he had become was something neither Grimm nor Human. He would be considered to most – if not all – an abomination on this earth. Would they still see him as their son? Would they even want to see him anymore?

Or would they try and hunt him down in order to restore honour to their family name now that he was a monster?

Whatever they thought of him now, he could never return to them. Not unless he found a way to free himself from the powers of the King of Darkness. But he needed this power, he needed to stop this 'Salem' that threatened the balance of the world. He needed the Darkness to save those that resided in the Light.

"Hey, are you okay?" Integra's voice broke through his thoughts as he turned to the young blond-haired girl. "You've been staring at your hands for like nearly an hour now. I thought you were dead for a second!" she exaggerated as she threw her arms up to emphasise her point.

A quick look at the clock on the wall and the blacksmith staring at the boy confirmed that he had drifted off. He chuckled as he stood up and patted the small girl on the head. "Sorry, got a little distracted. It's all good now."

She opened her mouth to say something, but he beat her to the punch, "And no I don't want to talk about it," she huffed as she puffed her cheeks and folded her arms. "Sorry about that," he apologised to the blacksmith who shook his head.

"It's all right, happens all the time. Anyway here's the new gear you ordered. It's a little heavy but it should provide the defence that you need considering you aren't wearing anything at the moment." He chuckled as he gestured to his ripped jeans.

"Thanks to those materials you got from the Bandit the armour came out pretty good. Which once again thank you for dealing with, they've been a menace in these lands for too long. I'm glad that we don't have to worry about them anymore."

Jaune nodded as he thought about all those bandits he killed, the ones he mutilated afterwards on pikes and the shocking revelation that Yang's mother was the leader of them. Not to mention that she was a Maiden herself like Cinder, something he would have to ask Ozpin about if he ever saw him again. He still had no idea where she went or if she would come back for revenge. But in any case, at least he avenged all the people that died at Shion.

Not that he felt proud of doing it, but life wasn't all black and white.

"It's no problem, I'm just glad that this place is safe now. Is it all right if I change in here?" he asked as the man nodded and gestured to a small changing room in the back. After a small amount of time, the boy emerged in his new armour and clothing.

He wore black pants and mid-calf high boots with the pants tucked into the boots. Around his waist was his crisscrossing belts with a dark grey buckle on the front of his pants. He wore a blood red button up shirt with the first two buttons undone and a black t-shirt underneath. In addition, he wore a black vest over the top and a black leather hooded coat with the left sleeve removed, with the interior of the coat had a red silk material sewed into the fabric that looked smooth to the touch.

On top of that, he equipped a blood red chest plate with a black trim that covered his chest and back with blood red armour on his left arm from his shoulder to his wrist. On the pauldron of his left arm was the same symbol he carved into the bandit's camp in black.

"Red's not really my colour, but at least this way I won't forget about Pyrrha and the others…" he commented to himself as he stared at the mirror placed in the corner of the room.

"It's a good look on you, kid. It really matches your hair and blood red eyes. By the way, what's so important about that symbol you asked me to carve on the shoulder?" he asked as Jaune he placed his hand on the new symbol.

"If what everyone's saying is true, The Branwen Tribe that I killed was the largest bandit group in the region. Which means they will have a lot of competitors looking to claim their turf and won't let innocent people stand in their way. So, when I killed those bandits I left this symbol on their camp to let them know who was responsible for their destruction. To serve as a warning to anyone who wants to do harm to innocent people and that they will not escape my judgment…or my wrath," he commented as his eyes momentarily flashed with the Kings power.

The blacksmith looked concerned at the boy but ultimately knew that there was nothing he could do. "In any case are you sure you don't want to stay here? The village could really do with a strong huntsman like yourself."

"No, the less you people know about me the better. There's going to be some… _dangerous_ people out there looking for me and the last thing I want is to bring harm to anyone here. If anyone does ask I was never here," he instructed the man who sighed but nodded.

"No problem kid, but the Mayor will want to see you off before you go," he nodded left the forge and made his way to find the mayor, only to discover him and the Huntsman he saved standing outside the forge.

"Mister Arc," he said as he held out a hand. "I would like to thank you for dealing with that Geist. Thanks to you the roads between here and Mistral should be a bit safer now." Jaune nodded as he shook hands.

"I also want you to thank you for saving my life. If you hadn't arrived I would be dead right now…with the rest of my team." The Huntsman said as all three of them looked towards the graveyard as three new piles of dirt now bearing three handmade crosses to mark the graves. Two of which held actual bodies while the third grave was empty.

"I'm sorry I didn't get there fast enough if I had your team would be-" the man shook his head.

"It all right, it's part of the job after all. I'll mourn for them, but they wouldn't want me to wallow forever. Besides, if you hadn't arrived all those people would be dead right now. Your intervention saved those lives and avenged their deaths. Thank you for helping us complete our mission." He shook the boy's hand as he returned it in turn.

"If you say so."

"If I may be bold, where are you headed? The roads aren't safe to be travelling alone and the next town after is a couple of weeks away on foot. If you are headed to Mistral we can contact the next town over and send a shuttle, I heard they have one and I know the mayor who owes me a favour. It wouldn't be too much to ask?" the Mayor asked as Jaune shook his head.

As it turned out three months after the invasion Atlas managed to retake Vale and repair the Communication's system. It seemed that Jaune's actions in the taking of the Grimm Kings power had changed the whole invasion with the Grimm staying far away from the city. However, footage of his rampage had leaked unto the network and the Kingdom of Atlas cried out for blood.

It was fortunate that the CCT didn't fully cover this area of Anima otherwise they'd learn of the bounty placed on his head – even though it had been five months since the invasion. Not that Jaune was fully aware of it either, but even he reckoned killing atlas personal would have consequences sooner or later.

"I'm looking for a temple that not a lot of people would visit. It's supposed to be in the same direction as Mistral but that's all I know. You wouldn't happen to have heard anything about places where Grimm won't go?" he asked as the mayor and the Huntsman looked confused/

"A place where even Grimm won't go? If such a place was to exist I can assure that everyone on Remnant would be headed there," the Mayor said as Jaune nodded.

"Although," the Huntsman said as Jaune turned to him.

"I heard a rumour of this one place south of Mistral back when I was at Haven Academy. An old superstition the kids would hear from travellers. Apparently, the number of Grimm in that area is surprising low, like really low which is bizarre. But anyone who ever ventures in there has never returned. Some say that entering that place will drive mad with rage and kill anyone close to you…But it's just a rumour, sorry I can't be much help?" the Huntsman said unaware of the Grimm King materializing behind him.

"That sounds like the place, the temple must be in that direction. We should get moving" he vanished as Jaune subtly nodded.

"Thank you, I hope you all stay safe and that we meet again under better circumstances?" Jaune bowed to the two men who replied in turn. But just as he was about to turn and leave the village a small hand grabbed his own. He looked down to see Integra as she looked up sadly at the teen.

"Do you really have to go?" he nodded as he kneeled down to her.

"Sorry, Integra. But this is something I have to do, sorry I can't stay." She hung her head with a sad expression. "But I promise I'll come to visit when my business here in Anima is done," she looked up with joy as she smiled.

"You promise!?" she asked as he chuckled.

"I promise," he told her as she then hugged the teen who was shocked but smiled as he returned the hug. The spectre of the Grimm King watching from his spectral plain as he gagged at the heartfelt moment.

"I swear you humans are too emotional. It's a wonder I managed to lose to you years ago?" he commented while the New King only tuned him out.

Turning around he pulled the hood over his head as he left the village, the eyes of the townspeople watching as the one who saved them walked away into the sunset. Never knowing what he truly was, nor care for it either way. To the survivors of Shion, he was their saviour in their darkest hour. To Takefu he was a brave huntsman that stopped the Geist that had harassed them for months.

But to the world he was the New King of Darkness…and his reign was about to begin.

* * *

Meanwhile at Salem's Fortress.

* * *

Red with black eyes glanced out at the umbral plains of her domain as Salem cast her gaze upon the many Grimm that were taking shape in the pools of black. However, while her eyes were set to the present her mind was cast into the past as she thought about the Former King she betrayed centuries ago. A being that Ozpin himself had no knowledge about, for he only ever faced herself or his Grimm minions.

The Grimm King preferred to move from the shadows only ever directed his forces through his bond with the Grimm. But when his presence was required he would leave no witness in his wake. Annihilating his foes with unyielding force and power. It was the reason that those of the Silver Eyes were close to extinction with only the young to barely remember his face or name. All they would remember was a large Grimm that was far too strong for them.

But it was also because of the Silver Eyes that she took her chance to dethrone him. In his final battle with the elders of the clan, they weakened him and brought him down to a vulnerable state. She used that to sever his bond with his brethren and took control of the source. She became the new ruler of the Grimm and started her war with Ozpin for the relics he guarded.

However, while she had control over the Grimm she did not have the powers that the King possessed. Those were of the Kings own cultivation from tapping into the Pure Power of Darkness. Powers that no mere Grimm should possess, powers that were close to that of the God who created them. Powers that she wanted for herself. Unfortunately, they were tied to his being and to kill him would destroy all trace of connecting to the Dark Powers he wielded.

They would be forever lost to the void and the knowledge to access them would die with him.

Which was why she offered to let him live in servitude in exchange for the Powers of pure Darkness. Of course, she knew the King was stubborn and would never part with them willingly, he would rather die than do so. But she figured that eventually he would see reason and give her the powers he wielded. He threatened to find a successor but scoffed at the idea. He would never give his powers to a human and even if not, then she would continue with what she had and claim the Relics for herself.

However, she had never foreseen him actually giving his powers to someone else. A human for that matter and that now terrified her.

It meant that now the fury and rage of the New King of Darkness would be focused on her. Not the White Fang over petty difference, not the enemies of the Kingdom that stole from innocent to quench their own selfish desires. Not even on a war that had been raging for centuries in the shadows for pieces of power left by the Gods. No, it would be over a grudge from a man she betrayed long ago, a being whose power could topple any kingdom that stood in his path.

And that terrified her.

For the first time in her life, Salem actually felt fear. She feared the man that now wielded the power of Darkness. She feared the man that once took her in when she had lost everything. She feared the man she betrayed for power and greed. She feared the man and the power of the true King of Darkness…

She feared his successor

She gripped the edge of the window sill and clenched her teeth. Why she wondered, why would he do this? Why would the King of Darkness give his powers to a lowly mortal instead of surrendering to her? Was his hatred for her betrayal really that deep that he would give his own life to quench it? Was he really that stubborn as to deny what should be rightfully hers? Or was this just a way to mock her for not killing him when she had the chance?

"Mistress?" she was shaken from her thought, as she turned to see the perplexed gaze of her subordinates – Arthur Watts, Tyrian Callow and Hazel Rainart. "Is something wrong, you've been-!"

"I'm _fine_ ," the men flinched when she spoke as her voice cut through the air like a knife. So sharp and deadly that they felt a brief flash of fear through in their core. "I was simply evaluating our situation, no need for concern. Arthur, report, what have you learned?"

He coughed in his hand to clear his throat before he stood behind her. "My contacts within the Atlas Military have managed to identify the man who stopped the Beacon Invasion." He drew open his scroll and handed it to her. "His name is Jaune Arc, eighth born to the Arc Family - a once prestigious Huntsman clan now - retired within Mistral." she held the scroll in her hand as she cycled through the images and reports gathered by Arthurs spies.

"From what they've gathered…he's the one you're looking for, my Queen." Hazel finished as she stared into the screen.

She narrowed her eyes as the screen was frozen upon the glowing red eyes of Jaune Arc as he stared into the camera of the Atlas Specialist who died to confront him. She instantly knew that this was the one that the former King had made his successor. The one who denied her the King's power, Beacon, the Fall Maiden and the Relic that lay beneath the school.

"This is whom he left it to? Some mortal bumpkin from the sticks that now possess's the power of the King of Darkness? Is he mocking me or was it intentional?"

"My Queen," Tyrian interrupted as she glared at him. "If I may be as bold to ask but who is this King you referred to five months ago? Why is he a threat to the plan? Because it seems like he was someone you knew?" Salem turned to the man as her red eyes glared into him before she turned back to outskirts.

"…Before myself the Grimm had a King known only as _the King of Darkness_ , the rightful ruler of the Grimm. I'm not exactly sure what he was myself, but from what I knew he was a powerful Grimm that had the intelligence of man and the fury of the power of the Grimm. Back in those days, no one could stand before his might, not even the Silver Eyes in all their strength." She looked down to the ground where the former King escaped.

"My Mistress, if someone that powerful existed then why is he not on our side? With power like that the humans should have been wiped out centuries ago." Arthur asked as she shook her head.

"The King was powerful but not unbeatable. I overthrew him centuries ago in order to take control of the Grimm when he lost the first War on Darkness. He was a stubborn man who refused to bow to me. I gave him an ultimatum, live under me in servitude or die like a fool…obviously he chose the latter." She looked down as she grasped the window sill.

"But if he is dead, then what does this Arc boy have to do with him?" Hazel inquired as Salem once again looked off into memory.

"Before he departed he swore that he would find a successor to carry on his vengeance, to take back the Grimm and make me suffer for betraying him. At the time I took no heed of it and proceed with my own plans to take over this planet...I honestly believed he would never stoop so low as to give his powers to a mortal… Clearly, he has chosen his successor and now plans to carry out his predecessors will and rid me of my life."

"Mistress, why has he taken so long to interfere now? If this King is bent on dethroning you, then why did he decide now to interfere in our plans?" Arthur asked as Salem narrowed her eyes to the mental image of the smirking King.

"I had placed a cursed seal on him long ago to cut him off from his powers and tied them to his lifeforce should he give his power to another. He was no stronger than an average Huntsman with the inability to die unless he gave his powers. He was supposed to give up his will in order to serve me, but instead, he chose to give his powers to another. The timing must have just been coincidental." The odds of finding a successor during the invasion were too low.

"But even now his presence threatens the plan and I have no idea where his allegiance will lie. But I know one thing for certain…he will be coming here…and he will face me." The members of her circle stared at each other as they subtly detected the hint of fear that hid in her words

"But…if he is supposed to carry out his predecessors will then why hasn't he come here them? If the boy now possesses the power you've described, then why has he not fulfilled that purpose and used it?" Hazel asked as Salem pondered this.

"...I do not know…It's been over a thousand years, so I have no idea what the King has planned for his successor. This could be an attempt to rile me up and make me unfocused, catch me off guard or toy with me like I did with him centuries ago. Or…perhaps something happened neither of us could predict."

"Which is another thing my Queen," Arthur stated as he brought up images of Ruby. "This girl, she clearly possesses the powers of the Silver Eyes." Tyrian scoffed at this.

"I thought we took care of the last Silver eyes years ago?"

"Clearly we missed one," Hazel noted. "But it does seem that she had something to do with the boy disappearing," the images showed Ruby's powers activating and blasting the area with white light before static took over the screen.

Salem pondered this. Could this girl have had something to do with the New King disappearing? If so then how could they use this to their advantage? "In any case, we could not afford to be hasty. The new King was out there, somewhere in the world and we have no idea of his motives or his plans. We need to be cautious and carry on with the plan."

"But how my Queen, with Cinder dead we don't have access to Fall Maiden and there's been no sign of her inheritor. Even Cinders cohorts have vanished without a trace." Arthur asked as Hazel looked at the images of Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black.

"It's not like they knew where we live. Cinder was supposed to bring the kiddies here for an introduction…but got a little sidetracked with death," Tyrian grinned a little but stopped when Salem glared at him.

"Is it possible that her associate Emerald inherited the power? That was her true purpose after all in case Cinder was ever defeated. A back up in case something was to happen." Hazel shrugged his shoulders.

"Unknown, but from Cinder, reports indicate this girl was highly infatuated with her. Idolised her even. Her death may have had an adverse effect on her psyche. There is no telling what state she could be in when we find her if we can find her." Arthur nodded as he looked over the reports of Cinders known associates.

"Agreed, but in either case, we need to locate them and get a full report on what happened. If she did manage to inherit the Maidens power, then we can plan another attack on Vale. Until then we must focus on gaining the other Maidens. Arthur, contact our spy in Mistral and double our efforts in locating the Spring Maiden. Hazel will head off to meet with Adam and ensure the continued co-operation of the White Fang. Tyrian." Salem instructed as Tyrian grinned as he looked at her.

"I want you to dig up anything you can find on this Jaune Arc, see if his name pops up anywhere with your contacts. As soon as you have located him contact me immediately and I will send every available Grimm to dispose of him." Tyrian nodded as he bowed to his Queen.

"Right now, everything we've worked for is at risk of failing because of a mistake I made long ago in the past. But this will not stop us from completing our ultimate goal. We will reclaim the Falls power, we will steal the Relics that slumber under the Kingdoms of this world. And we will create a new world where we will rule…" she looked towards the window as the fractured moon hung over the plains of Remnant.

' _Still…his presence has tipped the scales into the unknown…I have no idea what this 'New King' will do. But I doubt he will join us…then again…'_ she looked darkly at the world. _'I highly doubt he will join Ozpin once he finds out the truth of this war…and what the price has cost him'_

* * *

One Week Later – Anima Forest – Near the Temple

* * *

The soft sound of leaves crunching and dirt shifting echoed quietly amongst the forest as Jaune walked silently amongst the shaded canopy of the large trees. His black cloak lightly shifted in the wind as blood red eyes peered out from the darkness of his hood. A small rustle caught his attention as he stopped in the middle of the road. The soft chatter of birds and animals scurried around him as he stood still in the forest.

"I know you're there, so come out already" he spoke to the seemingly empty woods. That was until several figures emerged from the woods as all of them brandished the gleaming steel and the stench of blood. Wicked grins and smug aura surrounded the men as they circled the man. A large bald man grinned as he looked at the hooded Jaune.

"Hehe I'm impressed, not many travellers detect us so quickly until it's too late. From what I can guess you're probably a Huntsman, right? Pretty stupid to be wandering by yourself though, never know when you could run into some…unsavoury characters." Red eyes narrowed as the men slowly drew their blades.

"So how about this, you give us all you got, and we may consider letting you provided that you actually have something of value to offer?" the man said smugly as he hefted a large battle axe upon his shoulder. The man merely narrowed his eyes as he looked at all the men around him.

"…Are you really going to do this?" The looked confused as this was not the usual response they got from their potential victims.

"Are you really going to try and rob me, even kill me if I don't give you what you want? No offence but you guys don't look very intimating, let alone well organised if you ask me. From what I guess you guys are small time crooks that take advantage of small groups rather than large towns if I can judge accurately from the state of your gear."

He looked over as most of them had patched up cloaks, rusted metal or even mismatching clothes and armour. The Bald man growled as he planted his axe into the ground for dramatic effect, not that it even fazed him.

"Shut it, boy! Besides, since the Branwen Tribe got wiped out a week ago all their territory just became up for grabs. Don't know who was brave enough to take on those bastards, but it's left a large vacuum for groups like us to swoop in to take what they left behind." He grinned as he leaned into the boy. "I saw what became of them, brutal if you ask me. But if I ever did meet the guys who manage to do it I'd probably thank them for the new opportunities we have." He placed his hand on the boy's shoulder roughly as he squeezed.

"Now we're going to try this again. You are going to give us everything you have, and we _might_ just let you live. Play nice and we'll let you walk away with a shred of dignity left in you. What do you say?" the man slowly turned his head he stared at him.

"…For your own safety, you have five seconds to remove your hand. Trust me, you don't want this to happen." The bald man blinked before he laughed followed by his cohorts as their voices echoed out amongst the forest. All the while the hooded man just stared at them. The bald man gripped tighter on his shoulder as he got right up in his face.

"Oh yea, and what will happen if I don't?"

Crack! Crunch!

What followed next was the sickening sound of broken bone and torn flesh as the man only managed to blink before he looked over to his hand, only to find that it was no longer attached to his elbow. "ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!" he let out a horrifying wail that startled and scared his men, only for him to suddenly fly all the way back and slam into a tree.

The others quickly spun back to the hooded man as he held their leader's arm in his own as red eyes glared out from the darkness of his hood. One of them was braver than the others as he roared and tried to attack the man from behind. But all that did was get him a boot to the face and a quick flight to the nearest tree. Two more screamed as they charged at the man with swords drawn, only for the swords to miss as he backhanded both of them into the ground.

Dust flying through the air as one of the gang members with a gauntlet loaded with dust launched a large barrage of ice across the ground hoping to freeze their attacker. But Jaune merely produced his sword and with a powerful slash stopped the ice in its track and scattered it into dust. The bandit only had seconds to register this before the black blade flew out of his hands, through the air and severed the man's arm from his body.

The man's screams echoing in the forest as twin bandits swung their chains and threw them at Jaune, wrapping him up with chains. The bandits grinned when two more of their comrades drew their blades and ran their steel through his chest.

"Ha! Not so tough now you little shit!" one of the bandits boasted as he and his brother drove the blades in. But that smug turned to terror as Jaune looked up at them with no visible pain on his face, only a flash of red before his body morphed into shadows and he slipped away from their grasp.

"What in the-! Gah!" was all he could say before a fist punched his chest and threw his body into his brother before blasting them away with a punch. The remain bandits looked on in fear as he stood in the centre of the carnage. Broken chins, steel and blood scattered around him as he moved his head slowly towards the men. Red eyes flashed as bandits looked on in terror before he charged, and they screamed.

The bald man slowly regained conscious even as the world became a blur around him. Drowned voices echoed around him as he groaned groggily. His vision began to clear when he noticed a particular lack of feeling on his left arm. Only to realise that he no longer had an arm from the elbow down.

His heart began to beat faster in his chest as he desperately grabbed on to the stump that was his arm. His aura did manage to stop the bleeding, but the pain felt still clawed at his nerves as he groaned in pain. Finally, his hearing returned, and he noticed a lack of sound that forced him to look up.

What he saw terrified him.

All around his men defeated, their bodies broken and twisted, their weapons destroyed, and any will of fighting long gone as they lay motionless on the ground. At the centre of it all was the man they tried to rob, not a single scratch on him as he held the last of his men by the neck. The man not moving before Jaune dropped him to the ground, alive but broken. His gaze then turned to the leader of the bandits as red eyes flashed in his direction.

It was then that the man noticed the mark on his armour, the mark of upside-down crescents with a blood red eye and sword puncturing right through the middle. A mark he had seen a week ago, "t-that mark! A-are you with the ones t-that killed the Branwen clan!?"

Jaune merely turned to him as he flinched back in fear of the boy. The red eyes of his attacker glaring into his soul as he feared of what would happen if he moved.

"No…I'm not with the ones that killed the clan…" his voice cut through the air as he glared. "…I _am_ the _one_ that killed the clan…"

The bald man flinched in fear when his eyes flashed red and the shadows began to move almost as if they were alive. His voice caught in his throat when he attempted to scream but nothing came out. His body frozen in place and refused to budge. Afraid that any slight movement would anger the boy-no demon before him and end his miserable life. Jaune looked down before he turned away and pulled his hood back over his head.

"Relax, I'm going to let you all live…" a huge sigh of relief nearly exited his mouth before he spoke again.

"However, in exchange for letting you live and quitting your ways…" he pointed to the mark on his armour. "You tell everyone you meet, every bandit, every pirate, every low-life scum on this planet that if they ever see this Mark it means the end for those with wicked intents…" he turned back one last time and glared at the man.

" _ **Understood**_?" his voice carried the power of the King as the bandit nodded rapidly in fear. In his moment of terror, he could have sworn to see the shadows move toward him and take the shape of Grimm with all their eyes glaring into him.

…in truth, he pissed himself.

Jaune nodded as he walked away from the carnage that he unleashed upon the poor bandits; noticing that his personality had changed ever since he gained the King of Darkness's power. He was colder, crueller to his enemies and felt no remorse for what he did to these men. But it was a price he had to pay for gaining the powers of Darkness, to save the ones he loved.

…the question was, how much of him would be left when the War was over?

* * *

 **And Scene. Well here is chapter V of The New King of Darkness. Sorry for the long, long, long, long loooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnggggggggg wait. But a lot of stuff happened in my life and I only had just enough time to write this chapter. I will continue, as well as some of my other stories such as Knight, Restart, Rider and Trials. I'm even working on the next chapter of Ascension as well. But good stories take time, so I appreciate your patience and hope you continue to read my works.**

 **I would also like to thank loneonyxwolf for the inspiration for Jaune's new clothes. Sorry everyone, but Jaune isn't getting Alucard's look. Alucard's look belongs to Alucard and Jaune needs his own style.**

 **Also, once again Paths of the Arc by Sixsamchaos has posted Chapter 2 of Knight and it is good. If you haven't read it already go and check it out. Thanks for reading and look forward to the real temple chapter in…  
**

 **Chapter VI: Temple of Raging Fire**


	6. Chapter VI: The Temple of Raging Fire

RWBY: The New King of Darkness

For every Queen, there is always a King, one that is the true undisputed ruler. Salem once had a King but betrayed him long ago for his power by placing a powerful curse on him. But before he was banished from her side, the King swore his vengeance, that a successor will take his place and cast her from the world of the living. But to do so, he would need a willing successor, someone willing to embrace the Darkness and forever forsake the Light. But who would be so willing to embrace the Darkness? And for what reason would he do so? This is The New King Darkness.

 **A/N For all those wondering why I decided to change the premise for this story…well, it was because recently I had felt less inclined to write RWBY stories ever since Season 5. I felt that the show was no longer what it was and felt less motivated to write. Focusing more on MY Hero Academia.  
**

 **But then Season 6 episode 3 came out and gave us more information about Salem and the Gods and I felt revigorated to write RWBY again. But that didn't mean I was going to abandon all the hard work I put into these stories. No far from it.**

 **I'm still thinking so, yeah. Any suggestions would help.**

* * *

Chapter VI: Temple of Raging Fire

* * *

Raven locks fell off the side of the bed as the former wife and mother of Yang and Taiyang Xiao Long rested within the sheets. A bloody bandage wrapped around the stump that was once her left arm as she breathed in painfilled breaths. Tai stood over her from as he applied a soothing rag to her forehead, her brother standing behind him while curious eyes watched from the doorway.

The assembled masses of the remains of teams RWBY and JNPR looked curiously at the woman that landed in the middle of the dining table. The obvious question was who she was and why did she look like a raven-haired version of Yang?

But the time for questions was nought as the woman had passed out from blood loss and would not be answering any time soon.

Tai sighed as he replaced the rag before leaving to stand by his brother-in-law as he looked at his sister. "How's she doing?" he asked as he shook his head.

"Not good, Qrow. She lost a lot of blood and probably used up the last of her aura just to get here. Because of that, she's developed a fever that won't go down. It will affect her recovery and I'm doing my best to combat it, but there's only so much I can do without taking her to a hospital."

"You know exactly _why_ we can't take her to a hospital. She's not exactly welcome there anymore when she returned to her old life and I doubt they will want to treat her." Qrow advised as Tai nodded.

"I know but…she's still my wife and your sister. There has to be something more we can do?"

"Uh…hey." A small voice asked as both men turned to the assembled masses. Except for Ruby who looked concerned, while Yang continued to glare at the wall away from them. "Can someone please explain what's going on here? Who is that woman?" Pyrrha asked as both men had difficulty finding the right words.

"That …is my mum," Yang spoke as she refused to look at them.

"Your mother?" Ren asked as she nodded while Ruby looked sad.

"Yep, she abandoned me, her husband and her brother years ago." Her voice laced with venom as she gripped her stump.

"Yang it's not that simple." Tai tried to argue but the girl just waved him off.

"It's _that simple_ dad. She _left_ us, she _abandoned_ us! As far as I can care, she can leave once she's all better. We were fine without her for ten years, so she can disappear for another ten." She huffed before walking away from the slightly stunned group.

Ruby turned to her father, "I'll go talk to her…" he nodded as she left to follow her sister.

Qrow sighed as he rubbed a hand over his face. It was just like his sister to come out of nowhere and stir everything up, been that way since they were kids. This time, however, was different. She was broken, beaten…he had never seen her like that before.

For the entire time Tai, Summer and he knew here she was near unstoppable and a powerful warrior. She was without a doubt the strongest member of their old team. For her to be like this she must have met someone…terrible.

* * *

Deep within the forest of Anima

* * *

Just beyond the board of the Temple, Jaune Arc – the New King of Darkness – was in a deep conversation with the being that was now fused to him. A being that had once served Salem as the former 'King of Darkness' but cast out when he failed her years ago…

"I'm telling you the temple is beyond these woods. Just pass the big rock that looks like a foot."

"We passed that rock _two times_ and we keep coming back to this spot. Are you sure you know where we're going?"

"Of course, I know. I once scouted these lands centuries ago during my exile. This was one such place where the Old Magics once resided. Trust me, it's here."

"Trust the parasitic Grimm that bonded to me in order to destroy his backstabber of a Queen so that he could become the new King? Sure, why not?"

"That's the spirit! Now get moving!"

Jaune sighed as he continued to walk towards the ruins. Passing once against the rock that looked like a foot. His travels bringing him further into the dense woods of the forest of Anima as he searched for a weapon that could be used against the Queen of the Grimm. Salem.

"Hey," the Former King's head formed from his shoulder as he looked to the teen.

"Hmm?"

"There's something I've been meaning to ask you. How did you get your powers in the first place? From what I gathered Grimm aren't supposed to have the kind of powers you have. What made you so different from your brothers?" he asked as the King sighed.

"Well…ever since I was born, I was… _different_ …from the rest of my kind. I was considered a 'freak' by Grimm standards. I was always more curious with mankind then simply wanting to devour it. In time I grew stronger and become a powerful Grimm. Then the Gods abandoned this world and I assumed that would be the end of it. That was until your kind managed to return after being destroyed by my father centuries ago."

"Wait, what, destroyed? What do you mean?"

"A long story, basically your kind is but a remnant of what it once was. Back when Magic was a gift to all, not remnants of a forgotten time. Yeah, you all were my fathers and uncles first creation, until you became greedy and tried to claim immortality from them under the influence of my former Queen and were punished for it. You can thank Salem for that when she pissed off the Gods and they wiped you clean from the earth. Dad even broke the moon when he was done." They looked up to the fragmented moon as Jaune stared in fear.

"W-Wait are you telling me mankind was… _ **destroyed**_ before? And the Gods just…wiped us out? Wait the Gods are real!?" the head nodded and grinned.

"Yep, technically this is mankind's round 2. Now you are but fragments of what was once a powerful race – the 'perfect creation'. Where instead of being able to cast powerful spells and raise glorious towers…you cower behind walls of stone and summon only a fracture of your capabilities…Funny, what the grief and arrogance of one person can do to an entire planet." Jaune was stunned as he absorbed this information.

"T-That's a lot to take in."

"Yeah, Jinn was a lot better at explaining this stuff than I ever was."

"What?"

"Nothing. Anyway back to my origin. After humanity bit the dust I continued to grow and wander this earth. Eating, killing and shitting out what came next. Humanity eventually managed to come back, and my kind feasted on yours. It was a rather boring century after that, but then one day I came across this man who was defending his village. A Huntsman that had a unique ability to control the blood of his fallen friend and foe and use it as a weapon." His eyes almost seemed to glaze in fondness as he drifted into memory.

"The battle we had that day stayed with me for almost a century now. I still remember how he cut down multiple numbers of my brethren. Protected his people and even managed to injure me in my original form. When he fell to my claws, I strangely felt saddened by his death…almost as if I respected him. He was the only one that had ever managed to wound me in combat…" he looked at his pale skin as he lowered his head.

"So instead of eating his corpse I took it back with me to the birthing grounds of my kind and… _experimented_ on him." Jaune looked disgusted as the King flexed his hands.

"I studied his corpse, learned what made it tick and then harvested it for myself. I used this knowledge to forge from his remains a body. One of a human form. When I merged my essence with his corpse, I discovered new…abilities. His Semblance for commanding dead blood become mine, my speed and intellect grew, my strength became unbound and I became the strongest of my brethren. I earned myself the title of King of the Grimm and even eyes of Salem and helped her wage a war against on Mankind." He eyes then turned dark as he thought about Salem.

"But I never realised she was just using me to get the Relics by using my forces against Ozpin's as a distraction. Then she betrayed me and sealed the powers I cultivated for myself. All so she could get revenge on the ones that cursed her…" He growled but shook his head.

"She took everything from me…and I will make her pay, even if I have to kill her a thousand times over until she learns to stay dead."

"What do you mean by that?" Jaune asked as the King shook his head.

"Nothing to worry about. When we get these relics, not even Salem will be able to stop us." Jaune stared at the former king before sighing.

"Fine…by the way, it's getting a bit annoying not calling you anything. And I don't think I should be calling you King since you're…dead and all, and I'm supposed to be the new one?" the King chuckled as he pondered.

"Good point…then how about calling me by the name of the man that managed to wound me. Even now I still remember his name, call me..." he turned and grinned as his eyes flashed with red and malice.

"…Vlad Tepes Dracul…"

* * *

Temple of Ragin Fire

* * *

The beasts of Grimm growled as they circled the ancient Ruins that stood before them. For many years they have never been able to get close to the temple that radiated with rage that you'd think they would be able to feast off it. But that was, in fact, the opposite. If they got too close the amount of rage energy would overload them and they'd explode.

Whatever it was in there was too much for even the Grimm.

So instead they waited just outside the perimeter and subtly feast on the rage. They had watched many humans attempt to enter the temple as well, only to suddenly be thrown into a mad state and kill each other, then themselves out of guilt.

It would seem that there would be no one that could enter the strange ruins.

They stirred as they sensed the presence of a powerful figure as he walked through their pack. His blood red armour and black cloak billowing slightly in the breeze as they growled at the hooded man. His red eyes glared and sent a shock of fear as they growled and circled the man. But did nothing as he continued to the ruins.

Vlad manifested beside him as he looked to all his brothers. "It's a shame that I must face my brethren like this. To be once a great and powerful King…now seen as a lowly worm by my own kind...its infuriating."

"They're not getting close, are you sure we'll be fine?" he asked as Vlad shrugged his shoulders.

"It's a fifty-fifty chance. But with your soul, my powers and plenty of luck we should be fine…maybe?" Jaune sighed as he walked towards the temple doors.

Around him were the scattered remains of broken swords, skeletal figures and flags of once great tribes and nobles. He carefully walked around their forms hoping not to disrupt their peace. But as he drew closer to the temple, he could practically feel the amount of rage and anger that was emanating from it. It almost drove him mad with hunger.

"Stay focused," Vlad whispered into his ear. "Do not give in to baser instincts, keep your eyes focused on the goal."

Jaune nodded as he fought back against the bloodlust and continued onward. The large doors of the temple covered in rubble as he shifted his form to shadow and slinked his way inside. The temple was dimly lit inside with blood red crystals as they glowed ominously in the hall. But all around him were skeletal beings that were clutching their heads in pain as their forms looked almost burnt from a powerful blaze.

"What happened to them?"

"These were once the followers of the dark teachings. They tried to harness the power of rage and fire but were consumed by it and suffered the consequences." He manifested as his form phased through their corpses.

"It looked like a battle was waged between the follower of Light and the disciples of Darkness…obviously, no one truly won. But I have a feeling the Light managed to accomplish whatever mission they were tasked with and seal the power we need…though clearly not enough."

Jaune looked around as evidence of a large battle was present long ago. The walls were scorched, and blood stained the floors. but also signs of self-mutilation were evident as ever poor soul looked like they had tried to rip themselves apart as they were spread amongst the hall in a chaotic manner.

' _This power…can I really be able to wield it?'_ he thought to himself as he moved amongst the graves.

He continued to walk down the hall as he passed more and more the burnt skeletons. Each one bore more painful images as some seemed to be even reduced to ash like statues, that crumbled when he touched them. He felt saddened as he continued to walk amongst the graves of the fallen. Until finally they were met with a large door with a symbol of a burning claw etched upon the surface.

"If I was a betting man, I would assume this is where they are." Vlad guessed as Jaune nodded and pushed the doors open with all his strength.

The ancient hinges snapped and broke as the large doors fell to the floor with a mighty crash and kicked up dust and ash into the air. He coughed as the dust circled around him and he peered into the room.

His eyes widened at the hundreds of burnt and broken bodies as they were scattered amongst the room. Each one twisted in some gruesome fashion or another as it looked as if they had all been driven mad with rage and killed anyone that got in their way. But his gaze was soon cast at the far back of the room stood a pillar of light as he continued a pair of blood red gauntlets that looked almost like they were fashioned from the flames themselves.

"There they are…the Gauntlets of Chaotic Rage…"

"It was said that these gauntlets were harvested from the bones of a ferocious demon, tempered in the very flames of hell itself and soothed in the blood of a thousand men. The flames that these gauntlets could produce can incinerate a man to ashes and draws upon the hatred and anger inside men's heart in fuel their everlasting flames. They also increase the user's power by feeding on the rage and hatred from their opponent. But those without a strong will would be consumed by the flames and…well you've seen the results."

"Then how were they sealed away?"

"It was said that a warrior of light learned to fight the previous user without hatred or rage in his heart. This managed to overcome the Gauntlets power and defeated him. But even he knew that if he were to wield the Gauntlets it would corrupt him as well, no matter how much he suppressed his hatred. Thus, he chose to seal them away long ago…but even now it still radiates with hatred and rage, so much that it corrupted this court and led to their ruin." Jaune looked to the barrier as his fingers brushed against the wall of light.

"So how are we to get past this barrier?" his fingers lightly stung from the wall.

"We use your semblance to break through."

"What?"

"Ever since you took my power, I've noticed subtle changes to your semblance. Must have something to do with the Semblance I took from Vlad – Which he called Blood Control – and your own semblance-"

"Wait, you know what my semblance is?" his curiosity peeked as he had been trying for months to unlock his semblance to no avail.

"As a fragment of the former King I am integrated into your physiology, and your soul. I can tell you more things about your own body then you will ever know in your lifetime. Quite an interesting Semblance I must say. The ability to augment and amplify aura is a unique ability." Vlad commented as Jaune processed what he heard.

"But how does that help get through the barrier?"

"As I said, since you took on my power your physiology and your soul have gone through changes. Some small and some more obvious than others. What the combination of my Grimm Physiology for never-ending consumption, Vlad's Blood control, the Dark Aura you now possess, and your Aura Amplification have done is create a unique secondary ability to your semblance. It has granted you the ability to absorb and consume aura and energy itself."

He grinned as he pointed to the boy's hand as the new king focused and felt his semblance activate. His hand coated in a form of white light before it turned into pitch black and red aura.

"But how come I have access to it now? I've been trying for months to get it to work. How come you know more about it then I do?" he asked as Vlad shrugged his shoulders.

"Must be because of my presence within you, must have unlocked your semblance when we fused – shit I don't know – but does it really matter? You've got your semblance and we need those gauntlets so let us get this over with." Jaune wanted to question him more but he relented.

He stayed here too long, and he needed to get those gauntlets. But as he moved his cloak brushed against one such corpse as fire sprouted from its eyes and mouth, while its body began to rise as its bones resembled cracked and burnt timber wood with small embers flickering from its corpse. A similar reaction chained with the others as the skeletons slowly began to stand scream a bloodthirsty rage.

"What the hell!?" the skeletons pounced upon him as he just managed to avoid their grasp and jump high into the air. "How the hell are these things still alive!?"

"It is the relic that is doing this. Its flames are never-ending and always burning, death will not even be able to quench it." Vlad explained as he gazed upon the screaming hoard.

"These men devoted themselves to the flames of Rage and died burning in their own Hate. But the fires of rage are never truly burnt out, they merely simmer to a small ember. All it takes is a spark to reignite their rage. These poor souls are stuck in such a state, never to be released from the rage they feel." Jaune clicked his teeth as he summoned his blade.

"Well let's test that!" his sword whistling through the air as he sliced the skeletons on half.

Fire-spewing from their bodies as they screamed in pain, while he swung around and decapitated four others. But they continued to attack him, despite their falling parts and broken bones as they still tried to attack the new King of Darkness.

Jaune summoned his gun as he shot them in the head while also swinging his sword and crushing his opponents. But no matter what he did, their bodies still tried to move, even as they were broken to pieces, they still clawed and raged towards him. He summoned the bloody whip in his left hand as he swept and carved his space around the skeletal beings.

One of them managed to latch on and bite hits teeth into his skin as the flaming fangs seared into his flesh. "Son of a bitch!" he roared as he grabbed the skeleton, flipped it onto the ground then stomped its skull to pieces before he shot at another that attempted to grab him.

He roared in anger as he smashed his fist through the ribcage of another, before swinging him around and smashing the flaming skeletons together. His sword drawn as it hacked away at the burning hoard until there was nothing left but broken pieces of bone and teeth.

He breathed heavily as his wounds slowly healed and burnt skin was replaced with pale undamaged flesh.

"Okay, …that's the last of them…"

Suddenly, the Skeletal pieces began to glow before they shot up into the air and pulled together into a large ball of flaming flesh and bone. The bony orb landed on the ground as it now resembled a large golem-like creature made of flaming bone and flesh.

"…I blame myself for that."

The Golem roared as it swung its flaming arm at the King, who managed to avoid the hit by turning into a shadow and slinking past its gaze and into the shadows. "How the hell did they manage to fuse like that?"

"It must be the temple defences. This place still brims with the old magic and they were known for having guardians to protect their most valuable treasure. This one must have been left by the Followers of Light to keep adventures or fools away from the gauntlets."

"Good to know."

Large footsteps caught his attention as the Golem roared and slammed its fist into the shadows, just as he sprung out and sailed over the large golem and landed on the floor behind him. But the Golem turned and released a stream of crimson fire from several skulls in its face as the flames scorched the ground and walls of the ancient temple. Jaune summoned his shield as the flames battered against the Dark Aura infused metal as he held fast against the creature.

When the flames finally died out, his eyes flashed red as he turned to the large imposing Golem.

"Okay, I've had enough of this guy…"

Dark and red aura surrounded his form as many blood red eyes appeared within the mass of aura. His muscles bulged as he dashed at inhuman speeds. His fist coated with his Dark Aura as he smashed the hind legs of the large beast.

Crocea Dark forming in his hand as the blade glowed with red malice and he struck the beast with a powerful wave of energy. The right arm of the Golem falling into bone and flesh as it 'roared' in anguish. The beast slammed its face towards the man, who only merely held up his shield and blocked the attack. The temple floor cracking from the strain as the New King growled and sent a pulse of aura through his shield and disintegrated the other arm.

The beast stumbled back on one leg as it roared in anger…only to stop as Jaune aimed his gun that radiated with dark energy and pulled the trigger.

"…Bang…"

His shot completely ripping through the centre of the construct as it blew apart like confetti. Bits and piece of bone and flesh splatted the ground as the Golem fell into utter ruin. Jaune smirked a little as the gun disappeared back into his form.

"Well, that was…something…now, let's see about this barrier," Vlad said as they both turned to the large barrier.

His fingers brushed against the barrier as it shimmers at his touch. "Uh…how do I?" Vlad shook his head.

"As you know us Grimm have a never-ending need to consume everything, a hunger we can never sate no matter how hard we try. But that is how we were made, to consume life in all its forms. It is why we consume everything. You are tied to that never-ending hunger and it has altered your soul. Just image feeling that hunger but channelling it into your powers…consume the barrier."

Jaune looked to the barrier as both his hands radiated with dark and red energy.

"Be warned though, those Gauntlets are very… _temperamental_ …you must gain control of them, or you'll end up like them."

He gestured to the bones as he nodded and slammed his hands into the column of light as sparks of black and white fought against each other. A loud crackling noise filled the air as the King of Darkness forced his way through the barrier of light. With one powerful yell, the barrier was broken as it shattered like glass. The moment it fell the gauntlets exploded in a rage of fire, the room basked in a sea of crimson red and fire as Jaune held his arms up in defence.

"Take them! Now!" Vlad yelled in his ear as Jaune grunted and forced his way through the pressure.

He grabbed hold of them as they glowed with a red light and swarmed around his wrist before clamping shut. Smoke drifting off his arms as he grunted and gasped in pain.

"Argh! God damn it! This hurts like hell!" Jaune yelled as his flesh was being burnt by the gauntlets. He fell to his knees as the flames seared his arms and flooded his senses in pain. It was like burning lumps of metal were seared in his flesh as he felt the thousands of years of anger and rage inside the Gauntlets.

"Don't waver, Jaune! You need to take control of this power! Don't let it consume you!" Vlad yelled in his mind as he grunted.

He felt the anger and the rage that poured into him as he feared he would be consumed by it all. Be left like all the others that had ever worn the gauntlets and become nothing, but a blind monster drunk on rage and anguish killing all that stood in his path...But then a memory of his friends drifted in his mind as they smiled.

It was then that he remembered why he had done all of this. Why he had sacrificed his humanity to the King of Darkness, why he had sold his soul in exchange for unimaginable power. Why he had no doubt damned himself to an eternity of pain and loneliness…

So that his friends could live.

He instantly felt his resolve be renewed as he forced himself back onto his feet as he glared at the gauntlets on his arms as they screamed in rage.

"Listen up!" he growled through gritted teeth. "You are mine now! I need your power and I'm not going to take no for an answer!" he forced his will onto the weapons as his power and power of Darkness coursed through his veins.

"I am the New King of Darkness…and you will obey me!" the Gauntlets started to die down but still fought back as Jaune's eyes glared at them.

 ** _"Obey me!"_** he commanded as a large shockwave of power and darkness pulsed out of him as the walls and stones of the temple shook in its wake.

The temple became silent as the burning light slowly faded and Jaune stood before the world.

He looked down as the Gauntlets on his arms as they glowed with a burning light. They had taken on an almost organic shape around his arms as they stretched to his elbows with clawed fingers and an almost leather-like skin. But to the touch, they were as hard as steel and glowing like they were fresh from the forge. He almost grinned as he felt the power coursing through him.

"Congratulations, King…" Vlad grinned as he stared at the Gauntlets. "You have conquered the Gauntlets of Chaotic Rage…" Jaune stared at the gauntlets as he flexed his fingers and gripped his fists.

"But," he spoke as he manifested beside the boy.

"We still need to master them fully before we leave. It's not as easy as just finding these gauntlets and putting them on. We need to spend at least a full week here before we attempt to go after the next Relic in Solitas."

"That should give us enough time to learn all we can from this place and gain a better grasp of your new power." Jaune looked down at his new powers as he nodded.

"Fine…" he gripped his fist as he turned to glare at the spectre. "But while we're here, you are going to tell me _**everything**_ about Salem and explain what truly happened to the first mankind" he ordered as the former King stared but grinned at the boy.

"Very well, as you wish…my King"

* * *

Patch Island – two days later

* * *

Red eyes slowly opened, and Raven stared up at an all too familiar ceiling. A brief memory of a blond-haired man passed over her mind before she brushed it away and buried it in her mind. She groaned in pain trying to raise herself from the bed but stumbled as she fell back down. Her eyes turned down to her left arm before they stared in shock and horror at the stump that was her arm.

A moment of confusion past over her before the memories of what happened surged back into her mind.

The battle, the death and the blood red eyes of the man that killed her clan came rushing back she gripped her sheets in anger. "Well, look who is up." She turned to the doorway as Qrow leaned on the doorframe.

"You know I would say this is a bit ironic, seeing as Yang lost her right arm and you lose your left and she doesn't even want to see you. But I'm more tactful than that." She glared as she managed to get herself back up with great effort, as Qrow sighed and walked over to her. "Easy, you're still pretty banged up and-"

"I'm fine, Qrow," she growled as he backed up. "I don't need your help."

"I know you. But clearly, that's not the case when you practically begged Tai for help. I've never seen you like that before, sis. Not in all the years, I've known you. It looks like whatever is that attacked you really did a number on you." She glared at her sheets as he sat on the chair next to her bed.

"Raven…what the hell happened?" she sighed as she lowered her head.

"They're gone…." He stared as she shook her head. "They're all dead…the whole Tribe…our family…is gone." He narrowed his eyes as he shook his head.

"They were your family, not mine. I left them a long time ago…but I'm sorry for your loss…" she scoffed as she shook her head.

"I don't expect pity from you. Just your usual snarky attitude." He shook his head as he sighed.

"Raven…what the hell happened them? Who killed them?" she almost seemed to shudder as the memories of his blood red eyes stared into her as a bead of sweat began to form on her brow.

"It…it was a monster…a true monster…" she looked to him as she stared into his eyes. "Just like the one you told me about." His blood froze like ice as he glared at the woman. A loud clatter broke their attention as they both turned to the doorway, as a bowl of water was dropped onto the floor.

"Jaune!" they both turned to see Pyrrha as she stood at the doorway. She then marched over as she grabbed the woman by her shoulders. "Did you see Jaune! Is he alive!? Where is he!?" she asked but was stopped as Qrow pushed her back before turning his attention back to his sister.

"Raven…tell us everything…"

* * *

 **And Scene. Well, it took a while, but here is Chapter VI of The New King of Darkness. So, I decided to keep the plot as it is and just work around what I learned in RWBY. In my AU there is a Grimm King, but he was more if a Grimm that** **managed to 'evolve' itself into an intelligent being and gained unnatural powers that no Grimm has ever possessed. He would have been her ally against Ozma but was cast out when he failed her. But now seeks to claim her throne from her.**

 **Honestly, I was about to give up when TFS brought out Hellsing Abridged episode 9 and I just felt, revigorated to write it again. Plus, I just got Red Dead Redemption 2 and my attention is stuck on it. And rewriting everything was going to make me pull my hair out.**

 **Also, I had writer's block on RWBY for a while.  
**

 **But I will persevere and keep writing this story, also check out Paths of the Arc a new chapter was posted and its great. Stay tuned next time for…**

 **Chapter VII: On the Kings Trail**


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